The Changing Destinies Series: Book One
by E4me100
Summary: Aka "A Strange Twist of Fate." Tons of people have written stories where a girl from our world is dropped into M.E. This time...it's gonna be different. WARNING: Self-insert fic. No flames, por favor. Pairings: Read to find out ;D The rings shown in the cover image are not mine! I only own the story behind them!
1. Extended is Always Better

**Author's Note: Hey guys! Welcome to my new story! Or...maybe I should say stories. I've had this idea in my head for quite awhile, but wasn't sure whether or not I wanted to put it up on FanFiction. Well, now I am! :D Yay! **

**I'm going to split this story into four fanfics, and the uploading schedule is TBD. Three of the books will follow the storyline of the LotR trilogy, but this first one...well, you'll see. ;) **

**Oh, and this is a self-insert. I didn't change anything about my real-life self except for my age, for both plot and personal reasons. :D Flame if ya want, but remember this as you troll: I write for me before anyone else. If I can't satisfy myself, then what's the point? Anyway...let's get on with it!**

The Changing Destinies Series: Book One

A Strange Twist of Fate

**Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable characters, places, or objects from Lord of the Rings.**

I slammed the door of my mom's dark gray Honda shut and squealed with joy. It was gorgeous day, April 16th to be exact, and the sun was shining high in the sky, with a gentle breeze wafting through the air. My orange flip-flops crunched across the gravel of our driveway as my mom and I walked up to our house. She had just picked me up from school, and I was more than excited to get this weekend started.

Speaking of mom, she shot me an odd look as we stepped onto the stone walkway that led to our front porch. "What was that about?"

"Don't you remember what I told you this morning?" I asked. When she shook her head, I reached into my black school bag and whipped out my newest and most valuable possessions. "My super-late birthday present from my friends! They bought me the extended editions of all three Lord of the Rings movies!"

"Oh," my mom said, rolling her eyes. She had never really been a fan of the epic trilogy. "And you're watching all of them?"

"No, I'm only gonna watch the first one and then burn the other two," I said sarcastically. "Of course I'm watching them all!"

"All right," she said as we reached the front door. "Just make sure you get any homework you have done."

"No promises," I mumbled under my breath. I ran inside and upstairs to my bedroom, passing my dad's office along the way. "Hi Dad!"

"Hi Erin," he replied. "How was school?"

"Awesome!" I called back. I tossed my bag onto my bed, neatly set the DVDs on my dresser, and plopped down at my desk, logging into my purple laptop to go through my messages on Facebook and deviantART rather quickly. Within five minutes, I had logged back out nad ran back to my door, pausing to glance in my body mirror along the way. My hair looked just like it always did, light brown in color, straight, but curled slightly so that it flipped out in various places at the bottom, hanging in layers around my face, with blunt bangs that covered my forehead. My eyes were a light green with a rim of a much darker green around the edges of my irises, and I was of average height and weight for a 17-year old. I had a modest chest and curves that were wonderfully plastic-free and never obnoxiously shown off. I was nothing special, really, but happy with my body all the same.

Grabbing the DVD set, I continued out the door, stopping as I passed my dad's office again. I stuck my head inside, giving him a triumphant smirk. "Wanna know why it was so awesome?"  
He turned his gaze away from his computer screen and looked up at me. "Why?"

"'Cause I have...these!" I proudly held up the three movies, grinning widely.

My dad's jaw dropped. "Oh, that _is_ awesome! Where did you get them?"

"It was my birthday present from all my friends," I explained. "They all combined their allowances and little snippets of their paychecks to buy it for me!"

My dad grinned back at me. "And I guess you're gonna watch them without me, huh?" He was the one that had gotten me into Tolkien's masterpieces, along with the amazing movies that Jackson had made. My dad and I had a bunch of lines that we'd quote around the house all the time.

"Hey, don't worry about it!" I said. "I own these now. You can watch them whenever you want."

He chuckled. "Okay, have fun, bug."

I smiled and continued on down the stairs, quickly popping in _The Fellowship of the Ring _into our DVD player and turning on the TV. With a quick flick of the light switch, the room became insanely dark, save for the bit of sunlight the leaked through the blinds of the two windows in the room.

As I settled down on the couch parallel to the 47" screen, I happened to glance over at the window, knowing that the neighborhood kids would be outside, running around and having fun. _That could be me out there,_ I realized. I could be out and about with my best friends, taking advantage of the beautiful weather and getting decent exercise for the first time in months.

And then my attention was drawn back to the TV as the faint music of Lothlórien came through the speakers, along with Galadriel's ethereal voice.

"_I amar...prestar aen_...The world is changing..._han mathon ned hen_...I feel it in the water...han mathon ne chae...I feel it in the earth..._a han nostod ned 'wilith._ I smell it in the air."

I spoke the next words of the prologue along with the elf queen. "Much that once was...is lost, for none now live who remember it."

As the History of the Ring theme swelled, making its presence known, I cast one last glance back at the window. That could wait.

oOo

Later that evening, I returned to my room, absolutely giddy as I hummed the hobbits' party music while I changed into my pajamas. The extended edition had been everything I'd expected, and then some! It was awesome! I couldn't wait to watch _The Two Towers _tomorrow.

As I snuggled down into bed and closed my eyes, I replayed various scenes from the movie in my head. Now all I needed was to take a trip to New Zealand one day, visit the places where PJ filmed, and my life as a fangirl would be complete. Wait, scratch that. I wanted to visit New Zealand, meet the actors and actresses, and see the Lord of the Rings Symphony Orchestra perform live. Then my life as a fangirl would be complete. But for the moment, I guess I was content enough with my movies.

After all, it's not like I could actually go to Middle-Earth, right?


	2. Suprise!

A Strange Twist of Fate: Chapter Two

As I came to my senses, I felt the warm sunlight on me first. Not wanting to be woken up yet, I groaned and rolled over, feeling the soft grass beneath me and taking in a deep breath of the earthy-smelling air.

...Wait, what?

I don't remember falling asleep outside!  
I rolled over again and sat upright, my eyes snapping open almost instantly. Sure enough, I was outside, but that wasn't what freaked me out so much. What freaked me out was that area around me didn't look familiar at all. To my right, there was a huge range of dark, stormy grey mountains littered with layers of white snow that seemed to stretch on forever in both directions. To my left, I could make out the form of a river, winding like an aqua blue snake through the land. Even farther left, there was an insanely massive forest that also looked like it stretched on for miles and miles, and on the horizon in front of me I could see the beginnings of another forest, though this one seemed much smaller than the other. The sky was blue, and the sun was high. It appeared to be mid-morning, at the earliest.

Fear pricked my heart a bit when I couldn't figure out where I was. I quickly stood up and went to brush myself off, hoping to regain some composure. But when I saw myself, I gave a startled cry. "GAH!" I stared down, utterly confused. "What in the world?..."

Needless to say, I wasn't wearing my pajamas anymore. I was now dressed in a light-grey, off-shoulder top with white trim and sleeves that belled out, hanging loosely from my arms. The shirt hung down to about the middle of my thighs, and I wore black leggings and grey boots as well. But what really stuck out to me was that the White Tree and seven stars from Lord of the Rings was emblazoned on the front of my shirt.

I stared at it in awe. "The symbol of Gondor..." But why was it on my shirt? Where did these clothes even come from? My eyes went as wide as a football field. "No way...I...am I in Middle-Earth? Well, I guess that would explain the clothes, but..." I couldn't accept that as a possibility. Middle-Earth didn't exist! I looked around again. I mean...I could see some similarities in the scenery, but...no! There was just no way! I rolled my eyes. "I won't believe I'm in Middle-Earth until I see a bunch of pretty elves waltzing around."

It was then that I realized that it probably wasn't a good idea to be standing out here in broad daylight without sunscreen. No matter where I was, I certainly didn't want to start things off with a nasty sunburn. The smaller forest in front of me seemed closer, so I sighed and starting jogging towards it. _Might as well try and find shelter until I can figure out where I am._

Now that I thought about it, I got nervous and scared again. Obviously I wasn't dreaming, so that meant I was most likely kidnapped and deserted out here in the middle of nowhere. But if I was kidnapped, then why would I just be left alone out in the middle of a field? And wouldn't I have woken up? There aren't mountains anywhere near where I live, and I didn't think I was _that _much of a heavy sleeper. And why was I wearing these clothes? Did I get kidnapped by some crazy axe murderer who just so happened to be a fan of cosplay and Lord of the Rings? Although that would be pretty sweet...but never mind that! None of this made any sense!

I was interrupted from my mind rambling when I heard a noise. It was faint; barely audible, but from what I could tell, it sounded like...a horse's whinny! I snapped my head up and looked left to see a fast-moving dark blur not too far away from me, but far enough that I couldn't tell who was riding it. For a second, I stopped running and stared at it. "That's a horse..." I said aloud, confused, but that quickly turned to excitement. "...and it's also the first living thing I've seen all day!" I took off towards the horse in a full sprint, shouting and pumping my arms in the air wildly to get their attention. "HEY! HEY YOU! OVER HERE!" I kept running, ignoring my aching muscles until I was pretty much in front of the horse by a dozen yards or so. I probably looked like I'd just been let out of an asylum, but I didn't care. "OY! HELLOOOOOOO! PERSON!" The horse whinnied again, louder this time, enough to rip the rider from whatever daydreaming they'd been doing. The rider wore a light brown, full body cloak with a hood, so I couldn't really see their face. The horse, however, was quite pretty. It had a healthy white coat and was sprinkled with tiny flecks of grey.

_Hang on. That horse hasn't slowed down yet, and I'm close enough to see his facial markings?_

"OH MY-" The rest of my sentence dissolved into an ear-piercing scream that passed my lips. My banshee screech freaked the horse out, and he neighed loudly in response, rearing up on his hind legs and almost knocking his poor rider off of his back. I screamed again, thinking that I was about to get crushed, and tried to dodge the animal, this time ending up underneath of him somehow. The rider was shouting things in some foreign language, trying desperately to calm their horse down. I continued screaming in fear and dropped to all fours, successfully rolling out from under the spooked horse. Then I realized that it wasn't smart to be screeching and squealing like a wild animal and flailing about near an already scared horse, so I decided to shut up and stay curled up in my little ball on the ground.

As I laid there, shaking badly and trying to catch my breath, I listened to the rider above me as he got control of his steed. He was saying soothing, calming words to the horse now, and I could tell by the even tenor of the voice that said rider was a male. Something about the way he spoke bugged me, though. He kept saying "_Daro i, daro i, mellon n__î__n," _(Stop that, stop that, my friend)and I recognized the words, but was too shaken by my near-death experience to place them. He had an accent too, a British one. _Crap, that means I just embarrassed myself in front of a British guy._

A moment later, the horse quieted down, and the British rider spoke again, though this time it sounded like it was directed at me. _"Man carel le?" _(What are you doing?)

I lifted my head ever so slightly to see a pair of brown booted feet a few inches away. The brown cloak stopped an inch or so above the ground. I raised my head more until I could see his face, and I nearly choked on my own spit when I saw him. I hadn't just embarrassed myself in front of any guy, I'd embarrassed myself in front of...

"...L...L-Legolas?" I stuttered, not believing my own eyes.

His own eyes narrowed, looking at me suspiciously. _"Iston le?" _(Do I know you?)

My face grew hot, and not in that cutesy little anime way, When I blush, it looks more like Saw's cheeks more than anything else. "Uhh...I, ah..." I fumbled with my words, finally settling on "Holy mother of Mary, you're Legolas!" I jumped to my feet, feeling confused, freaked out, and insanely excited all at the same time. "You're really Legolas!"

The blonde prince noticed the emblem on my shirt and then looked back at me, his blue eyes softening and showing compassion. "Forgive me, my lady. I assumed you were an elleth who spoke Sindarin."

On the inside, I fangirl squealed. I knew thousands of girls that would kill to have Legolas/Orlando Bloom call them 'my lady.' "Oh! I, uhh...yeah, it's no big deal."

"I must ask, thought...what is a woman of Gondor doing so far north, with no visible supplies or transportation, and how do you know my name?" His blue eyes found my green ones again, but now he looked at me with curiosity.

I raised a finger. "Hold on. Before I say anything, tell me where I am and the date."

"You are just north of the borders of Lothlórien, and it is April of the year 3017. Why?"

I ignored his question and stared at him, slack-jawed. "Lothlórien?" He nodded. "As in, Middle-Earth? That's where I am right now?" He nodded again, and I felt my knees go weak. I shot a hand out and grabbed his shoulder for support.

Legolas looked at me with worry. "My lady? Are you alright?"

I looked back up at him, now grinning widely. "Alright? I'm better than alright! I'm fan-freaking-tastic, because I'm in Middle-Earth! And I'm not dreaming this time! This is so awesome!" I squealed. I pulled away from him and did a happy little spin.

Meanwhile, Legolas looked at me like he thought I was high. Actually, he probably did think that. "Perhaps you have been in the sun for too long, my lady..."

I laughed. "No, I'm fine. I swear. Oh, and my name's Erin, by the way." Then, without warning, I gave him a quick hug, laughing again at his baffled expression once I pulled away. "What? Don't they let you hug girls back in Mirkwood?"

Legolas blinked. "How do you know where I am from?"

I sighed, my giddy state momentarily fading away to be replaced by seriousness. "...I'm not really sure how much I can tell you."

"Why?" he asked again. "And why do you speak of Middle-Earth as if you have never been here before?"

"Because I...I haven't, actually," I said. Seeing the confusion in his eyes, I clapped a hand on his shoulder and met his gaze. "Legolas, before I tell you anything, you gotta swear that you won't tell anyone. Not one soul. It could put me, you, and all of Middle-Earth in danger."

At my last statement, his dark eyebrows shot up in alarm. Funny how they didn't match his hair, just like in the movies. He laid a hand over his heart and briefly bowed his head to show sincerity. "I shall tell no one if it would put others in peril."  
I eyed him warily for a moment, then finally gave in. "All right. Well obviously I'm not from here, as you can probably tell." He nodded, and I went on. "I'm from an entirely different world, known simply as Earth to everyone else that lives there."

"Where is it? This...'Earth' you speak of?" Legolas asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know how far it is from here. It might not even be in the same universe. I don't even know how I got here, honestly. I just kind of woke up in this field this morning."

"If you have never been here before, then how do you know who I am?"

"That's the complicated part," I replied. "I'll tell you, but you have to believe me, no matter how weird it sounds."

Legolas nodded, but I could tell he already kind of skeptical. "Of course. Go on."

"Okay. In my world, we're...a lot more modern than you. We have all kinds of machines called technology that makes things easier for us humans. On Earth, there are no Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, Balrogs, Great Spiders...none of them. The only existing race is the race of Men, and though we do have lots of animals there, they're very different from what you guys have here. One of the cool things about my world, thought, is that we have these awesome things called movies. They're small, flat metal disks that you can put into these things we call TVs. The TV is like...a thin box with a glass front, and when you put a movie in it, you can hear music, people talking, and you can see moving pictures, too. It all comes from the TV." I frowned slightly, noticing his confused expression. "You follow me so far?"

Legolas thought about everything I'd just said for a moment, and then nodded. "I believe so."

"Good. Okay, so movies. They always tell a story somehow. Sometimes there are movies that are based off of books, and one of the most famous book series of all time is called _'The Lord of the Rings.' _It's a trilogy that...okay, this the weirdest part. _Lord of the Rings _tells a story about this world, Middle-Earth, and about the One Ring of Power, made by Sauron. You know about that, right?"

He nodded, his expression grave at the mention of the evil thing. "That Ring is evil, along with its master," he hissed bitterly.

"I know," I agreed. "Anyway, the story is about a bunch of characters that are actual people living Middle-Earth, and how they go on an epic journey to defeat the Dark Lord. Someone made all three movies to go along with the three books, and the thing is...you're one of the main characters."

His eyes widened. "Me? But...how?"

"I can't tell you," I said, "because I've read the books and seen the movies so many times that I have the entire story pretty much memorized. So if I were to tell you what happens, I'd be giving you knowledge of future events that you shouldn't know about yet. That, in turn, could alter the course of events, which could change the fate of Middle-Earth entirely."

"I believe I understand now," Legolas said. "So...you know of future events to take place here?"

"Not just the future," I said. "_Lord of the Rings_ has always been my favorite story of all time, so I eventually started...studying Middle-Earth, I guess you could say, in my free time. Maybe a better word for it is exploring. I don't know. It's always just been so fascinating to me. In any event, I learned a lot. I have pretty good knowledge of this land's history, people, places, and languages."

"So is that how you know my name?"

"Yep," I nodded. "I also know that you're the Prince of Mirkwood, son of King Thranduil. Your grandfather is Oropher, who was a mighty elf of his time. I don't know everything, though. In fact, you're probably the person I know least about."

"...Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

I smiled and thought about that for a moment. "I don't know. Could go either way, I suppose. But just out of curiosity, when's your birthday?"

Legolas raised a eyebrow at the random question, but answered anyway. "I was born on the thirteenth of January."

"Hey, that's two months before mine!" I grinned. "Cool! Now, another question. I don't mean to sound rude, but how old are you?"

"I will be two thousand, one hundred and three years old next year."

"Really?" He nodded. "Huh," I said to myself. "No one ever makes him that young in the fanfics."

"Erin?" he asked. "You said you have knowledge of Middle-Earth's languages, yes?" I nodded. "How much language, exactly?"

I smiled. "I see where you're going with this. Yes, Legolas, I can speak Elvish, Granted, it's very limited, but I can still speak it. I know some simple and useful phrases."

"Ah," Legolas replied. He looked at me a moment longer, then frowned. "So if you are not of this world, then that means you have no place to stay."

I sighed. "Yup." I then looked down at my feet. I actually hadn't thought about that until now.

Almost instantly, he said "You will come with me."

"What?" My gaze snapped back to him. "You're serious?"

"Of course," he answered. "It is the least I could do after almost trampling you, Erin."

"Well...where would we be going?"

"To Lothlórien. That is where I was originally headed, unless you would prefer to go somewhere else."

"No way!" I cried. I then let out another squeal of joy. "Lothlórien has always been my favorite place in Middle-Earth! Oh my gosh, you're so awesome!" I grinned. "Thank you thank you thank you so much!"

Legolas laughed, amused by my fangirling. "It is no trouble, I assure you." I turned toward his horse. "Now, come on. If we get going now, we should make it there in time for supper."


	3. Arriving in Elf World

A Strange Twist of Fate: Chapter 3

Later that afternoon, we decided to stop briefly for a lunch break. Legolas and I dismounted the horse, who I had nicknamed Astley. The horse's real name was something long and hard to pronounce, so I had given it a name that would be easy for me to remember. This had led to me humming "Never Gonna Give You Up" as we rode, which led Legolas to ask what I was singing, which led to a hilarious couple of minutes as I explained the concept of Rickrolling to him.

Once we stopped, I seated myself in the grass while Legolas fished some food out of his bag of supplies that he had. Eventually he sat down across from me, tossing me a cake of bread and a pouch filled with sweet-looking berries.

My eyes bugged out of my head. It was an awful lot of food! The pouch of berries was about the size of moth my fists put together, and the bread was even bigger, being the length of my entire hand with at least a three inch thickness. "I get to eat all of it?"

Legolas laughed. "If you want me to starve, then yes." He then shook his head and extended his palm. "We will split it in half."

"Sorry," I said as I broke the bread and set the bag of berries between us. "I didn't know."

"You are forgiven. Though I must say, I did not expect humans of another world to be so naïve."

"Oh, shut up." We ate in silence for a moment, until a new question sparked in my mind. "Legolas?"

"Yes?"

"How do you say my name in Elvish?"

He thought for a moment. "Lónnanûniel," he then answered.

"Really?" I asked, and he nodded. "Wow. That's kinda long. I think I'll just stick with 'Erin'"

Legolas laughed. "Either name suits you just fine."

I smiled back and sucked the red-violet stain of the berry juice from my fingers. "And what's your name in English? Or...Common, I guess you could say."

"That is a harder question to answer. Literally, my name translates to 'green leaf.' You would have to find a name in your tongue that means 'green leaf,' and that would be my name translated," he explained.

"Oh." I racked my brain for a moment. "...I don't know any names that mean 'green leaf' off the top of my head." I thought about it some more, absentmindedly twisting the ring on my right ring finger in the process.

Suddenly, Legolas gasped, and I looked up to see him staring at me intently, his lips parted slightly in shock. He had the weirdest expression on his face. It looked like some sort of cross between fear, astonishment, and "OMG!"

"What?" I asked, glancing around nervously. "Did I do something wrong?"

He was silent for a moment. "...Y...y-your ring..." he stuttered. "Where did you get that?"

I glanced down at it. It was a simple sterling silver band with small prongs that held a small aquamarine gemstone in place. There wasn't anything special about its appearance. "It was a gift from my mother on my tenth birthday," I said. "She also wore it when she was a kid."

"May I see it?" Legolas asked, eyes never leaving the small thing.

Although hesitantly, I removed the ring from my finger and handed it to him. Once he had it, I watched as he examined it like it was the most interesting thing he'd ever seen in his entire life. His blue eyes lit up and sparkled with curiosity, and he flipped the ring over and over in his nimble fingers for a good minute or so before finally looking up at me and returning the silver band. "It is very beautiful," was all he said.

"Thanks..." I said, looking at him oddly. He offered an awkward smile to compensate for his weird behavior, but I just exhaled and shook my head.

"My apologies. I just-"

I held up a hand, silencing him. "Don't wanna know."

oOo

We rode hard the rest of the day, and by the time the sun started to set we had reached the borders of Lothlórien. I looked around as Legolas slowed our pace a bit, taking in everything with reverence. This kind of stuff was only supposed to happen in fanfics! How lucky was I?

After only ten minutes or so of riding, through the Golden Wood, a sharp voice startled me out of my daydreaming. _"Daro!" _(Stop!) it hissed. After that, the voice (which seemed to be coming from the trees) said something else in Sindarin, but he spoke too quickly for me to understand what was said.

I gently poked Legolas' back. "What did he say?"

"He asked for our names, where we are from, and to state our business," he whispered. Then, in a voice for all to hear, he clearly said _"Avo osto. Man eneth l__î__n Legolas Thranduilion. Telin o Taur e-Ndaedelos. Boe ammen veriad l__î__n." _(Fear not. My name is Legolas, son of Thranduil. I come from Mirkwood. We seek your protection.)

Without warning, a dozen elves or so dropped down from the trees and formed a group in front of us. They seemed friendly enough towards Legolas, but looked at me with uncertainty. A moment later, one elf stepped forward, emerging from the group, and I smiled to myself when I recognized the face of Haldir, Marchwarden of Lórien. _"Mae govennen, Ernil Legolas. Elen s__í__la lumenn' omentielvo." _(Well met, Prince Legolas. A star shines on the hour of our meeting.) He smiled stiffly, and then sight of me sitting behind him. Noticing my rounded ears, he switched to speaking in Common. "And who are you?"

I smirked slightly and responded in Sindarin. _"M__á__ra aur__ë__, nin hir. Im L__ó__nnan__û__niel; telin o...Minas Tirith," _I said, only slightly faltering at the end. (Hello, my lord. I'm Erin; I come from...Minas Tirith.) I smiled warmly at his impressed expression.

"Minas Tirith?" Haldir said, raising an eyebrow and glancing at my shirt. "Of Gondor?"

"No, of Mordor," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes. I didn't realize my tone of voice until after I spoke, and quickly clapped a hand over my mouth. "Sorry," I mumbled. "It...it just slipped out."

To my suprise, Haldir didn't seem upset. He just chuckled. "No offense taken, my lady."

"I'm not royalty. Erin is fine," I said.

Haldir nodded. "Erin it is, then. I must say, I have rarely met a mortal who can speak our language so fluently."

_"Hannon le, _but my Elvish is really limited," I replied. (Thank you.)

"Mortal or no, I welcome you to Lothlórien," he said, extending an arm to show off the forest around us. "My kinsmen and I will escort you to our capital city. I assume you were headed in that direction, yes?"

In front of me, Legolas nodded. "We wished to visit the Lord and Lady."

"Ah, of course," Haldir said in understanding. "Then we shall take you to Caras Galadhon's palace directly. _Tolo." _(Come.)

As Legolas and I slid off Astley to walk alongside the other elves, I looked up at him excitedly. "Is he serious? We're gonna meet Galadriel and Celeborn?" I whisper-squealed.

"Yes," Legolas said with a smirk, amused by my fangirlism.

I giggled and looked ahead as we walked, admiring everything around us. "Best...day...ever!"

oOo

As we walked through Caras Galadhon, drawing ever closer to Galadriel and Celeborn's palace, I was amazed at how perfectly the environment appeared when compared to both Tolkien's description in the books and Jackson's portrayal in the movies. The city was essentially made out of Lórien's famous mallorn trees, with their sturdy, thick, silvery trunks serving as foundations for endless spiraling staircases and rope ladders. Their leaves glimmered gold in the evening light, seeming to give off a soft glow of their own. Pale blue-white lights were strung about the treetops and on ground level also, and the soft singing of the elves could be heard everywhere from up in the trees. I quietly hummed the main Lothlórien theme along with the women above as we traveled.

By the time we had reached the foot of the Lord and Lady's tree, I was still looking around the place with stars in my eyes, hardly believing all this was really happening. Haldir led Legolas and I up the winding, delicately carved staircase that protruded from the tree, and when we stepped onto the palace's talen, I gasped. It was gorgeous. The massive structure seemed to be carved right out of the tree it sat in, and a heavenly white glow shone from inside. Haldir asked us to wait a moment, and the disappeared, going off into a hidden side entrance of some sort.

Once he left, I leaned closer to Legolas and whispered "Why are we here?"

"I have matters of my own that I need to speak with the Lady about," he explained, "and I do not doubt that she would like to speak with you as well, because of your, ah...knowledge."

"Oh," I said. "That makes sense." I was about to say something else when the doors at the top of a large white staircase that connected the palace to the talen swung silently open, the white light making me blink rapidly. After a moment, I recognized the two royals of Lothlórien emerge from inside and slowly glide down the stairs, their shimmering pale robes trailing behind them. "Just like in the _Fellowship_..." I murmured in awe. Legolas glanced over at me, but said nothing.

I will admit, I openly stared at Celeborn and his wife as they came towards us. They looked exactly like they were portrayed in the movies! Oddly enough, neither of them made eye contact with me until they reached the bottom of the stairs, though they still towered over us (or...maybe just me) by a good handful of inches.

Celeborn spoke first. "Welcome, Thranduilion. Long has it been since our northern kindred have visited our woods." Legolas nodded to him in greeting, and then the elf-lord turned his intimidating and authoritative gaze on me. "Though it has been longer since a mortal woman has come here."

I didn't know how to respond to that, so I smiled awkwardly and shifted my weight.

Galadriel seemed to sense my distress. "Would the young lady introduce herself?" She asked kindly.

I locked eyes with her, and as soon as I did I felt her presence in my mind. I could tell she was browsing through my thoughts and got freaked out about what she might find. I struggled to not think about anything majorly important from the trilogy. "Gladly. My name's Erin; I am a citizen of Minas Tirith. It's an honor to be here, my lord and lady." I gave them a quick but respectful bow.

"How come you here?" was Celeborn's response. My gaze flicked back to Galadriel momentarily. She seemed to have a knowing look in her eye, but didn't say a word.

This was the question I'd been dreading. "Well...I have no real family back home, and have just recently lost my last parent, so I decided to travel on my own for awhile. I've never really been able to get out of Gondor, so...it was a nice experience. Until I was attacked, anyway."

"Attacked?" Celeborn now sounded skeptical. Crap. "You do not appear as one who has just emerged from battle."

I nodded, trying to buy myself some time. "Yes...that's because Legolas was kind enough to lend me some of his stuff for me to get freshened up with." I gestured to the elf in question. He shot a look, as if to say "Where in the world are you going with this?" I returned his look with one of my own that I hoped looked reassuring. "...And also because I didn't actually fight the Orcs, either. I...I don't really have any fighting experience at all, so when I heard them coming..." I paused for dramatic effect. "I ran away. I was so scared, I just...I ran off, not stopping to gather up my supplies. I kept and running and running until I literally couldn't run anymore, and I guess I kinda fell asleep out in the open field after that." I looked back up at the two elves, hoping they were buying it. "I woke up this morning, ran into Legolas, and he brought me here."

There was silence for a moment after I finished. Galadriel stared into my eyes, and I stared right back, but not defiantly. Then she spoke to me in my mind. _"You do not speak the truth, Erin daughter of James." _I winced mentally at my father's name. _"Why?"_

_ "I'm sorry," _I said to her, _"but I can't tell you. I'm from another universe, and because of this I have knowledge about future events that no one else here can know about."_

Galadriel didn't respond for a moment. When she did, she said _"We will speak about this later."_ Then she spoke aloud, her voice filled with kindness and compassion. "Well! That is quite the tale, Erin. You are welcome to stay and refresh yourself here in Lórien for awhile, if need be." She smiled, then turned to Haldir, who stood nearby. "Haldir, please set up two talens for our guests." The elf nodded, bowed, and hurried off. Galadriel then spoke to Legolas and I again. "I invite you both to dine with with us at a feast that is to be held here shortly."

"We gladly accept," Legolas said without hesitation.

Though I was surprised by his snappy decision, I didn't have a problem with it. "Sounds good to me."

"Excellent," she said. "Please return here within an hour." I heard one last command in my head before we left. _"And you are to stay here after the feast. We have much to discuss."_

I gave her the subtlest nod I could. "Thank you both for your hospitality. I appreciate it very much."

"Think nothing of it," Celeborn replied, also smiling warmly down at us. "Now go. Prepare yourselves."

Legolas and I both bowed one last time, then turned and descended the spiral staircase. Surprisingly, Haldir was waiting for us at the bottom. "Hey," I said with a wave.

"Hello, Erin. Your talens are ready. May I escort you to them?"

"You may," I said with a horrible fancy person accent. We all laughed. "Thanks."

The three of us walked through the woods of Lórien for only about five minutes before Haldir stopped us, standing between two equally large trees. "This is where you shall stay," he instructed. "Legolas, yours is here," he gestured to the left, "and Erin is on the right. I hope you find it comfortable and to your liking," he said to me.

I grinned. "Of course I'll like it! I get to sleep in a tree! That's awesome!"

Haldir laughed. "Good." He turned and walked away, leaving Legolas and I to ready ourselves for the banquet later on.

Legolas looked over at me. "Are you comfortable with heights?" he asked curiously.

"Heck yeah!" I said. "Love 'em!"

He smiled back at me. "Excellent. I would hate to have to come drag you out of bed every morning and carry you down the tree's ladder."

I shot him a mischievous look. "I might just make myself afraid of heights now, just for kicks." We laughed.

Legolas shook his head. "I will see you shortly, Erin. Just come down when you are ready; I will wait for you."

"'Kay." I turned away from him and began my climb up the thin, yet incredibly sturdy rope ladder that was attached to the trunk. When I reached the top, I surveyed the area around me. It wasn't much, really. The talen was built so that the tree trunk came directly through the middle of it, its shining branches extending up and out to create a nice little leaf canopy to act as a roof. The talen only had two walls that formed a corner, and a bed was propped up against one, moved over so that it wouldn't hit the tree. A large wooden trunk sat against the other wall, and grey curtains were able to be pulled around the two open walls for privacy.

Nevertheless, I was happy. Heck, I was in Middle-Earth! Anything would make me happy at this point. I walked over to the chest and opened it, pleased to find a decent-sized collection of clothes and shoes inside, along with a few other gifts such as a hairbrush, small mirror, and a piece of string to use if I wanted to pull my hair up off my neck. I quickly decided on a nice magenta dress with large belled sleeves, a silver beaded belt, and silver trim along the off-shoulder neckline and sleeve cuffs. I grabbed a pair of comfortable silver flats and laid the outfit out on my bed, admiring the beautiful gown.

This was gonna be a fun night.


	4. What is it With This World and Rings?

**A/N: Hey there! Hope you guys are enjoying this story so far! I'm sure having fun writing it! Just a quick note about this chapter: The Elven Element Bands are actually real rings that you can buy online. I wish I could link you to the site, but I can't. :( Anyway...I own the story behind the Elven Element Bands, but not the actual rings themselves. Just so we're clear on that. :)**

A Strange Twist of Fate: Chapter Four

After changing into my new clothes, I slowly worked my way down the ladder, taking special care not to screw up my dress. Legolas was already standing between our trees, waiting for me. As I stepped off of the last rung and turned to him, he gave a nod and small smile of approval. "You look lovely, Erin."

"Thanks," I said. "You look nice, too." Now that he had taken traveling cloak, I could see that he was dressed in a rich olive-green tunic with long, tight-fitting sleeves and a v-neck, covered partially by a mocha brown vest that had an even deeper v-neck, this one coming down to the middle of his stomach. Legolas also wore brown pants and even darker brown boots with silver swirling patterns on them that resembled vines. He also had a necklace made of a silvery metal that could only be mithril. It had a short chain and bore the emblem of Mirkwood on it: four leaves curling outward in a form that almost looked like a butterfly, with a small four-pointed star in the center. "So where are we supposed to go?"

"The feast is to be held at the Lord and Lady's palace," he said. Legolas linked arms with me, as was the custom for the men of this time, and we started walking back the way we had come.

"So...who all do you think is gonna be there?" I asked.

Legolas thought about that for a minute. "Haldir should be there, along with his two brothers, if their patrol group has not already left for the evening. Other than that, I do not think you will know any of them, even with the knowledge that you have. It will mostly be high-ranking officials and others that are close friends of Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel."

"I see," I replied. We talked casually about other unimportant things until we arrived at the base of the royals' tree, and then eventually at the palace doors once more. The two guards stationed there were apparently quite friendly with Legolas, and let the two of us inside. We worked our way through the open hallways of the palace, until we reached the dining hall. I gasped upon seeing it for the first time.

The walls of the dining room were hardly even walls to begin with. They were more like a series of thin pillars of wood that split into tons of twisting branches at the tops, each of them connecting and intertwining somehow. These elegant "branches" formed a domed roof that was impossibly high, and because of the gaps and holes in the ceiling, you could see the golden foliage above it, making it feel like you were seriously in a tree. A large, sparkling chandelier hung from the center of the dome, but it wasn't like the ones you would typically think of on Earth. This chandelier was made of many thin strands of what was most likely mithril, dotted here and there with varying sizes of diamonds. The signature ethereal glowing light of Lórien was suspended in the middle of the chandelier, causing its gems to twinkle brightly. The whole thing itself reminded me of a spider's web after a light spring rain. Evenly spaced around the circular walls were different and beautifully woven tapestries depicting all sorts important times in elven history. There was only one table, but it was huge, circular, and could easily seat at least 30 people. Most of these seats were already taken by elves, some in royal-looking robes, some in more casual clothing, and a few even in armor. As Legolas guided me across the room to our seats, several of them recognized him and greeted him politely.

It wasn't until we sat down next to the mini-thrones that Galadriel and Celeborn would sit at that I realized the awkwardness of the situation. Looking around, I quickly realized that not only was I the only mortal in the room, I was also the only girl, and the only one who didn't speak Sindarin as a first language. I sunk down in my chair a bit and self-consciously covered my ears with my hair, but several of the men there were already sending curious glances my way. Crap. I quickly jabbed Legolas in the side with my elbow.

Turning away from whoever he was talking to, he raised his eyebrows at me. "Yes?"

"You could've told me that I was gonna be the oddball here!" I whisper-shouted. _I'd almost forgotten sexist Middle-Earth was._ Glancing around again, I caught a couple of, ah..._nastier_ looks from a few of the elves. _Almost. _

"Oh, I apologize, Erin," he said sincerely. "It did not even cross my mind."

"It's fine, I guess," I sighed, "but they're all staring at me!"

He laughed lightly. "Would you like me to teach you how to get them to stop?"

I gave him a hurt-puppy look. "Please!"

"All right. All you have to do is give them a look like this." All of a sudden, the friendly look in his eyes disappeared, and he gave me a very authoritative and intimidating stare that made me want to squirm. It wasn't arrogant or anything, just...really, really uncomfortable. After a few moments of The Stare, he dropped the expression and smiled at me again. "See? It makes the victim want to look away."

"Got that right," I said softly.

"Now you try it," Legolas encouraged me. "Just look them right in the eye like that."

"Okay." I did as I was told, and sure enough, every one of dropped their gazes to the floor. I turned back to Legolas, smiling widely. "That's awesome!"

He returned my grin. "You have learned it well."

From then on, dinner was basically what you'd expect. Celeborn and Galadriel arrived, gave some sort of welcome speech in Elvish, everyone ate and mingled, etc., etc. I spent the majority of the time talking to Galadriel as I ate. She really a nice lady. Very motherly.

After awhile, I looked up from our conversation and saw that well over half of the other elves had left, and those who remained looked like they were soon finished, too. I then felt a hand on my shoulder, and assuming it was Legolas, said "Hang on, Legolas. I'm almost ready to go."

The voice that spoke back to me was different, though. "My apologies, Erin, but I am not the prince you speak of."

I turned my head and beamed when I saw a familiar face. "Haldir! Have you been here the entire time?"

Haldir nodded. "I have. My troops and I are to leave within the hour to begin our evening patrol of the forest borders. Forgive me for not coming to you earlier, but I at least wanted to say goodbye before I left."

"Hey, it's no problem," I replied. I stood up and stepped around my chair, giving my Elvish friend a hug. "Good luck tonight. And don't die!"

He chuckled, and then softly whispered _"Le tiro bein." _Before I could ask what he meant, he pulled away and ran off without another word.

I stared at Haldir as he walked away, confused. What was that about? Now I regretted not taking the time to study Elvish as much as I could've back home. Whatever. I could just ask him later.

"Erin," Galadriel called to me.

I turned to face the elven queen. "Yeah?"

"I wish to speak with you now, if you have the time."

"Sure!" I said, offering her a small smile. "Whenever you're ready.

She nodded and rose from her seat, gesturing for me to follow. I found Legolas on the opposite side of the room, gave him a quick goodbye wave, and then left the dining hall, using Galadriel as my guide through the slightly maze-like place. We walked in silence, making no sound except for the soft patting of my feet hitting the ground and faint swish f my dress trailing behind me. Eventually, we stepped into a tiny room that I'm positive was probably the only room in the entire palace with four walls. It was small, with a few more hand-woven tapestries hung on the walls, a desk with neat stacks of paper and an ink well, a small book case, and two chairs.

Galadriel set up both of the chairs so that we were facing each other when we sat down. "I know that you do not hail from Gondor," was the first thing out of her mouth.

I nodded. If anyone were to figure it out, it would be her. "I'm sorry for not telling the truth, but I have my reasons." From there, I basically gave her the same story the Legolas heard. I told her as much as I could about Tolkien and what he spent his life creating without giving anything away. When I finished, I let out a breath and sunk back into the comfortable wooden chair. "So...that's my story."

"I am sorry for putting pressure on you, Erin," Galadriel said. "I understand your predicament now. Thank you for confiding in me, dear." She smiled her tender, loving smile.

I shook my head and waved it off. "Nah, it's cool. No harm done, really." I made to stand up, but apparently she had other plans.

"Wait, Erin. That is not all I wished to speak with you about."

At this, I frowned. "Oh. Well then...what's up?"

She smiled briefly at my language, then spoke again. "I noticed the ring you bear on your hand when you and Legolas arrived here today."

That reminded me. "Oh yeah! I wanted to ask you about that." I removed the ring and handed it over to Galadriel, who began to examine it. "Earlier today, Legolas asked to see my ring. When I gave it to him, he was looking at that thing like it was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. Is there a reason for that?"

Galadriel stopped looking at the ring and met my gaze, as if to say "You have no idea, man." She handed it back to me. "How did you come by this, Erin?"

"My mom gave it to meas a birthday present. Said it was a family heirloom, or something like that."

She nodded, then stopped to think for a moment. "You said you know much of Middle-Earth's history, yes?" I nodded. "Do you know anything about the Elven Element Bands?"

My brown furrowed in confusion. That certainly hadn't been in the appendices. "No, I don't."

"Then we have done our job," she smiled. "Allow me to explain. You know that long ago Sauron forged the Three Rings of Power to give to the elves to gain control over our realms. DO you know who the Three Keepers are?"

"Yeah," I said. "Elrond, Gandalf, and you."

"Correct. Once the three of us discovered Sauron's malicious intentions, we decided to hide them and keep them well protected, so they would not succumb to the dark power. But even then we feared for the safety of our realms, should Sauron choose to attack us in order to retrieve the Three. We also knew that if he were to gain control over the Rings, the chances of ever defeating him would be extremely low. So we decided to forge other rings that would aid us against the Enemy. Rings that were completely pure; untainted by Sauron's black magic.

"We managed to forge them in such a way that within them we could harness the power of the four elements: earth, water, wind, and fire. Once they were created, we distributed them each to the highest and most trustworthy elves in Middle-Earth, but none of us have ever worn them. We all swore an oath that they would be deeply hidden in our homes, never spoken of to another soul, and certainly never revealed unless they needed to be used. However, their...power, I suppose you could say, is great enough that no matter how well you hide them, the Elemental Bands still affect their element of the surrounding area."

"So...you can still tell that they exist and where they are, then? Fail," I said.

But Galadriel just shook her head. "Not entirely, no. Everyone who visit our realms believe the affect of the Elven Element Bands to be 'elf-magic,' if you will. If you know of their existence, then yes, it is possible to tell where they are hidden. That is precisely why we have never revealed them to anyone, not even our own families."

_Okay, then this makes no sense. _"Why are you telling me about them, then?"

"Patience," the elf queen chided softly. "I will get to that."

"Wait, am I allowed to ask who has them?"

"Yes. The Elemental Bands are currently owned by Lord Elrond of Imladris, King Thranduil of Mirkwood, and myself. I will also explain what I mean when I say that the power of the Elemental Bands can affect the area around it. The best example is the Ring that King Thranduil bears; Kemenya, the Ring of Earth. You understand his dilemma with Dol Guldur and its evil that has tainted its forest?"

I nodded. "Yeah. And I know that they've kept a section in the northeast preserved and free of darkness for his people to live in."

Galadriel smiled. "And how do you think he keeps that area of Mirkwood so clean and pure?"

"Oooh," I said, everything clicking in my head. "Kemenya is part of the reason the forest up there is so clean."

"Precisely. And the same applied to Imladris, which is well-known for its exceptionally beautiful and impressive waterfalls and rivers."

I remembered the scene from _Fellowship of the Ring _that took place at the Ford of Brunien, and the water forming into great chariots pulled my magnificent horses as they crushed the Nazgûl. "Which shows that Elrond has the Ring of Water."

"Yes, Aearya. And those who have visited Lórien report that it is a heavenly realm, and that it feels as if there is magic in the air..."

"...Because you have the Ring of Air," I finished.

She nodded. "Yes, I do possess Sûlya."

I grinned. I felt so smart. Then I realized something else. "But wait...that's only three. What about the Ring of Fire? Who has that one?"

At this, Galadriel sighed, and the smile left my face. "That is one trouble we have encountered over the centuries. Erin, how much do you know about the elf-lord Glorfindel?"

"Not much," I shrugged. "I know he fought a Balrog once...might've been during the fall Gondolin...yeah, I think that's it. Oh, and didn't he die while fighting the Balrog, but then went all Jesus on everybody and came back from the dead?"

"That he did. You must also know, however, that it was not simply by his own strength that Glorfindel defeated his opponent. He was the original bearer of Lhachya. It gave him the power over the element of fire that he needed to win the battle, despite his death afterwards."

"So...does he still have it?"

"Unfortunately, no," Galadriel continued. "It was lost when he died and was buried. Of course, when he was resurrected, we interrogated him to see if we could relocate it, but our efforts were in vain. Glorfindel could not tell us where it may have gone, and we could not send out search parties without revealing the other three, which would completely defeat the purpose of the Elemental Bands' secrecy."

"Well...couldn't you just find a place that's know for...I don't know, it's roaring fires, and start searching there?"

She shook her head sadly. "Erin...where is the first place you think of when you hear the word 'fire?'"

Once she put it that way, I stiffened, and my eyes widened with fear. "...Mordor..."

"Precisely," Galadriel said.

"But...but that means Sauron has Lhachya! We gotta get it back!"

Now she shook her head again, confusing me. "Not necessarily."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"If Sauron had Lhachya, then he would have complete control over the element of fire. I realize that it makes sense, since he is the overlord of Mordor, but if he so possessed the Ring of Fire, he would not be seeking the One Ring so desperately."

"But Lady Galadriel, you and I both know that the One Ring is more powerful than every Elemental Band put together." Where was she going with this?

She gave me a knowing smile. "Is it? While it stand true that the One Ring is the most evil of them all, if one could control each of the four elements, you could essentially control the entire world quite easily. Think about it, dear. How simple it would be to eliminate entire populations! You could conjure up floods, hurricanes, and other natural disasters out of thin air!"

I thought about that for a minute. "Okay. I guess that part I could buy. But how are you so sure that Sauron doesn't have Lhachya?"

"Because if he had it, he would instantly recognize its elvish traits, and would have attacked us long ago out of suspicion that there were others. And if he truly did have it, I doubt he would have kept it hidden for so long. He needs all the power he can get now." Galadriel smiled at me again. "Do you understand what I mean now, Erin?"

"Yeah...I think so," I said slowly. "I still don't get how this applies to me, though."

"Ah, now I can finally explain that to you. You see, Erin, when the Elven Element Bands were forged, we were no fools. Of course we knew how much power each of these rings bore alone, that power quadrupled if the four were possessed by the same person. We knew that it was too great a risk to have such power exist freely. It mattered not how well we hid them; the possibility of the Enemy finding them was still there. And I am sure you can imagine how disastrous the results would be if that were to happen." I nodded in agreement. "So we came to the conclusion that the power of the Elemental Bands needed to be lessened somehow. What we ended up doing was creating yet another ring. Atontarya; the Ring of Unity. This ring had only one simple power: to unify the four Elven Element Bands and unleash their full power."

"So basically Atontarya is the key to unlocking all this stuff," I simplified.

"Yes. Once the Ring of Unity was formed, we knew that the most extreme measures were to be taken when it came to the task of hiding this ring away. So, with the approval of the other three ringbearers, I took the ring to the Undying Lands, and asked the Valar to aid us."

At this, my jaw dropped slightly, and I blinked. "You went across the sea and spoke with the gods of Middle-Earth?"

"That I did," she responded calmly. "We had hoped that they would hide Atontarya, for we simply did not trust anyone in all Arda with the responsibility to keep it hidden. I explained all of this to Elbereth and Manwë, and it was Elbereth herself that agreed to help us. She said that she would take the ring and hide it where no one in all the lands of Middle-Earth would ever find it. She also said that when she judged the time to be right, she would send it back to us."

"Let me guess," I said, rolling my eyes. "You think I'm the one who has the Ring of Unity."

"I know you do, Erin, for I helped design it myself. We wanted to keep it as plain-looking as possible, but still have a way to clearly identify it as our own ring. So we made it a simple, thin band made of mithril, or as it is also known, true-silver. Into the ring we set a small, pale blue gem." I stared at her as she described what I had always thought to be a simple birthstone ring. "But what we did to already make it unique was...well, if you will allow me, I can show you." I nodded and handed the ring back to Galadriel. She pulled her chair closer to me, then angled the ring in such a way that I could see the inside of it. Then she pointed a slender finger at three miniscule engravings in the mithril. "To label it as the true Atontarya, we embossed into the metal three symbols. A sun, a star of the High Elves, and a crescent moon. Those signify unity to many of our culture."

I squinted closer, and gasped when I saw those exact symbols in the inside of my ring. "Oh my gosh...I've seen those symbols before, but never knew what they meant. I never bothered to find out, either."

Galadriel returned the ring to me, and I slipped it back onto its comfortable position on my hand. "Even if you had investigated, I doubt you would have been able to learn anything. I sailed to Valinor many, many centuries ago, so my assumption is that Elbereth placed Atontarya in your world and bestowed it upon one of your ancestors, and eventually it was passed down to you. I would also say that it was Elbereth that brought you here, but for what purpose, I do not know."

I exhaled and leaned back in my chair. "Sweet mother of Mary...that's a lot to think about. Wait, a second, does this mean that Thranduil broke his oath?"

Now it was Galadriel who looked lost. "Pardon?"

"Sorry," I said, "I've switched topics. I'm trying to figure out why Legolas got all excited when he saw my ring. Does that mean that he knows about the Ring of Unity? If he does, then Thranduil must've broken his promise and told him about it."

Galadriel frowned. "I would hope not. Even though I know that Legolas is a very trustworthy person, having knowledge of these rings is a danger to both us and him."

"Oh." We sat in silence for a moment, thinking. "What were you planning on doing? I got nothin'."

"I will request an audience with Legolas and speak with him privately about the matter. I am also curious as to why he acted the way he did." The elven queen rose from her seat, and I copied her. "I believe we are done here. Thank you for your time, Erin. _M__á__ra mesta." _(Goodbye.)

I smiled and offered her a curtsy. "No problem." She guided me back to the entrance of the palace, said goodbye one last time, and then walked away as I stepped out of her home, my mind racing with thousands of questions that desperately wanted answers. I just sucked that I didn't know how to get them. I descended the winding stairway and continued walking away from the palace, lost in thought. A short while later, I realized that I had no idea which way my talen was. I stopped walking and looked around, trying to get a sense of where I was. I failed. "Crap." I thought about what my next move would be for a moment, shrugged, and kept walking, humming Enya's "May It Be" as I went.

Eventually I got tired of walking and sat down in the soft grass, exhaling and leaning up against a tree. I looked up at the stars that were playing hide and seek through the leafy canopy. Very faintly, I could hear the soft singing of the wood elves floating on the air. The night was mild, and a light breeze ruffled the fabric of my dress against my skin. I closed my eyes and smiled contentedly. Right then, I made a promise to myself that I would visit this spot just outside of the city whenever I could.


	5. Swords, Elvish, and Secrets

A Strange Twist of Fate: Chapter Five

"Erin? Erin, what are you doing?"

"Well, I was sleeping," I mumbled, shifting position slightly. "Dad, can't I just sleep in for like...six minutes? Please?"

I heard a deep chuckle from above me. "My apologies, but I do not think it would be wise to sleep out here all night."

Memories of where I was came flooding back to me at the sound of that voice, and my eyes opened to find none other than Haldir standing over me, along with several of his patrol members. They were staring at me curiously, and it was then that I realized I'd fallen asleep in the middle of Lothlórien. "Sorry," I said as I quickly got to my feet. "I didn't even think I was that tired."

"It is no trouble, I assure you. But...might I ask how you got all the way out here on your own?"

I shrugged. "I was just walking around Lórien. Enjoying my free time. But I, ah...I kinda got lost." I smiled sheepishly. "Do you know how to get back to where Legolas and I are staying?"

"I do," Haldir said. "If you do not mind, I would be happy to walk you back to your talen."

"That would be great," I smiled, and we started walking. Haldir and I were at the front of the group, and the rest of the elves followed us. We made casual conversation for awhile, and somehow got onto the subject of battle and our fighting abilities.

"So tell me Erin, have you any fighting skill?" Haldir asked.

"Not really. The only fighting I've ever done is wrestling my cousin. As far as weapons weapons go, I don't own any. I've shot a bow and arrow before, but failed miserably at it."

"And what about swordplay?"

I thought about that for a minute. "Well...I took a fencing class before. But I only ever learned the footwork. I never got a chance to continue with the lessons."

Haldir nodded and was quiet for a moment. "Would you like to learn how to fight? I could teach you."

I stared at him, mouth agape. "Nuh-uh! You serious? Oh my gosh, that's awesome! I'd love to!"

My elvish friend smiled. "Excellent. I must go on patrol morning, but we always have the afternoon to rest. Perhaps we could do it then?"

"Sure! What time did you have in mind?"

"I will meet you at your talen at noon. We can go to the training grounds from there. It is not a far walk."

"Sounds good!" Now I was beyond excited. I'd always wanted to learn sword fighting and archery! Then I remembered a crucial detail, and my smile faded briefly. "Uh...slight problem. I have no weapons, remember?"

Haldir just shook his head. "You need not worry about that, Erin. I will provide them for you. We will only be using practice weaponry tomorrow, anyway."

I grinned again. "Has anyone ever told you how awesome you are? Because I'm pretty sure you're one of the coolest elves I've ever met. Then again, I've only met a handful of you, but...oh, you know what I mean." I stopped rambling. "But seriously, thanks again, Haldir."

"It is no problem at all, my friend," he said, still smiling. "I am looking forward to it."

Awhile later, we returned to my talen, and Haldir said goodbye to me one last time before I scrambled up my tree, changed, and crawled into bed. That night I fell asleep to the quiet singing of the Wood-elves, and had dreams of me taking out entire armies of Orcs and goblins single-handedly. I couldn't wait until tomorrow!

oOo

True to my word, I met Haldir at the base of my tree at twelve o'clock sharp that day (or as close as I could judge without a watch, anyway) dressed for our first practice. I wore a pale summer-yellow tunic with loose sleeves that hung to halfway down my forearms. It had thick brown trim with intertwining ovals along the sleeve cuffs, a brown belt around my waist, and a small v shaped neckline. Light brown leggings were my pants for the day, along with comfortable dark brown sandals that had been included with the clothes I'd been given in my trunk. I'd also used the cord I'd been provided with to pull my hair back into a ponytail and out of my face. I did a quick spin in front of Haldir and asked "Is this okay for practicing in? I wasn't sure what to wear."

He nodded approvingly. "That will be fine, Erin." He started walking away towards the training grounds, and I diligently followed, ready to take the lesson head-on. The area we were to train in was little more than a large clearing in the forest, open to the shining sun above our heads. A target was set up on one side of the field, along with a few weapons designed for training that were laying in the grass.

We walked over to them, and Haldir picked up two wooden replicas of elvish swords. He handed one to me, and said "We will begin with reviewing the footwork and basic arm movements. Watch what I do and repeat after me." I nodded and did as I was told, paying close attention to the way he moved his feet as he took two steps and swung up with the sword diagonally. Once he was done, he turned to me, and I tried my best to mimic what he'd done. "Close," Haldir said afterwards. "Your stride is not bad, but you need to be swifter with your swing. Do not wait until after you step to lift the blade. You must swing and step at the same time. Do it again." I nodded and did as I was told. That time I did it correctly, and Haldir clapped. "Good. Now let us try the next move."

That's basically how training went. We went over simple moves and how to properly hold the sword for awhile, then progressed a bit and moved into learning how to quickly unsheath the weapon, and finally ended off with executing a successful charge. It's a lot harder than it sounds, I swear. By the time we were done, I was out of breath and sweating. "Are we done yet?" I panted.

Haldir, who had seemed to barely put a dent in his energy (friking elves and their superpowers), laughed lightly. "I suppose we can end our practice for today. Would you like to continue this tomorrow?"

I handed the wooden weapon back to him. "Sure. Can we do archery tomorrow?"

"If you wish," he smiled. We gathered up the supplies he'd brought out for the day and headed back to the palace to put them away. "How long are you and Legolas planning on staying here?" he asked as we walked.

"I don't know," I said. "All I know is that he's gotta get back to Mirkwood sometime. I'll have to ask him when we're heading back to his place."

Haldir raised an eyebrow. "You intend to follow him?"

As soon as he said it, I realized my mistake. "Oh...I guess so. I'm not sure. I never really thought about it. I guess I could stay here for awhile, couldn't I?"

"Yes, you could. Unless you have any important business going on in Minas Tirith. In that case, I guess you would have to leave soon."

"Yeah," I said, glancing down at the ground. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Up until this point, I realized I hadn't thought about where I was going to go after this. If that whole thing about Elbereth bringing me here because the Ring of Unity was needed was true, then...where was I supposed to be?

Eventually we reached the palace again, and Haldir walked up to the main doors. Just as he was about to pull them open, though, they flew open on their own, scaring both of us and causing me to gasp.

To my suprise, Legolas stepped out. "Oh! I am sorry, did I startle you?"

I waved it off. "Nah, it's cool. I didn't know you were in there."

Galadriel also came up behind Legolas, who raised an eyebrow at the weapons in my hands."Where have you two been?" he asked.

"Haldir volunteered to teach me how to fight," I said with a grin. "Which reminds me! Legolas, will you teach me how to speak elvish? I don't like not being able to tell what everyone around me is talking about all the time."

He smiled. "Of course. We can start that now, if you'd like."

I was about to say yes, when Galadriel interrupted me. "Wait a moment, Erin. I would like to speak with you first. You may meet with Legolas in the library afterwards."

Though I didn't understand why she needed to talk to me again, I wasn't about to say no to the ruler of Lórien. "Okay. Do you mind taking these, Haldir?"

"Not at all," the blonde replied.

"Thanks." I handed him the two wooden swords and followed Galadriel back inside the palace. I recognized the path we were taking, and sighed once we were in the privacy of her personal office again. "So what's going on this time?"

"I spoke with Legolas just before you and Haldir arrived, Erin," the elf queen said.

That got my full attention. "You did? What did you say to him?"

"I asked him about his reaction to your ring, as you were curious about it. He confessed that he did in fact know about Atontarya and the other four Elemental Bands. Apparently Thranduil had confided in his son about these rings we forged so long ago."

I frowned. "Why would he do that?"

"I do not know," Galadriel responded. "For whatever reason, Legolas would not directly answer all of my questions. It seemed like he was hiding something. I do not distrust Legolas, but I am suspicious of what is going on in Thranduil's halls. I wanted to ask if you would try and find out anything you can for me."

I nodded. "Sure. Whatever you need. Now I'm even more curious as to what's up. I'll ask Legolas about it later. Hopefully since it's my ring that's involved, he'll clue me in on all this."

Galadriel nodded. "I hope the same. You may go now, Erin. That is all I wanted tell you."

I smiled. "Cool. Thanks for letting me know. Could you show me where your library is?" She obliged, and guided me through the hallways of her home again until we reached the library.

It was almost as gorgeous there as it was in the dining hall. In fact, the two were very similar in design. The library also had the same domed roof and tapestries scattered here and there high up on the walls, but the obvious difference in here was that it was littered with books. There were bookshelves that covered about eighty percent of the wall, along with several tables that also bore tall stacks of books and scrolls on them. Many chairs were spread out across the room, and my eyes found Legolas, who was seated in one at the end of a longer white table.

I walked up to him, and he smiled upon seeing me. "Are you ready to begin learning elvish?" he asked.

I plopped down in a chair next to him and shot one last glance at Galadriel before she slipped away. "Yeah. Let's get to it!"

For the remainder of the evening, we flipped through various books and scrolls that Legolas had collected and placed on the table and he taught me how to pronounce a bunch of simple phrases that would be useful for me to know. It was late at night when we finally decided to wrap things up.

"Can we go over it one more time before we go back to the talens?" I pleaded.

Legolas smiled. "Of course. In Elvish, say...'do you speak Elvish?'"

That one was easy. _"Pedich Edhellen?" _I replied.

"Very good. Now say 'where are you from?"

_"Man s__â__d telil?"_

"'How are you?"

_"Manen naly__ë__?"_

"'If you wish.'"

_"Ae an__í__rach."_

"'I can speak the Elvish language."

_"Pelin pedi i lam edhellen."_

"Excellent! Last one. 'Give me water."

"Uhh..._H__û__ n__î__n mant han?" _Once I said that, Legolas burst out laughing and shook his head. "What?" I asked. "What's so funny?"

"I said 'Give me water' and you responded with 'My dog ate it.'" He continued laughing, and I laughed along with him at my failure.

"Oh...that's rich," I said, still giggling a bit. "What's the real answer?"  
_"Anno nin nen," _Legolas replied.

"I wasn't even close," I said, laughing again as I stood from my chair. "I guess we're done for the night, huh?"

"Yes, we should probably retire to our rooms at this point. It is late," Legolas said, calming down.

As we walked out of the library, I remembered what my mission from Galadriel was. "Hey Legolas?"

"Yes?"  
"What's this I hear about you and my ring? Is something wrong?"

He didn't answer me for a moment, which worried me. "...It it nothing, Erin. My father was just concerned that the Elemental Bands were no longer safe because of the growing evil of Mordor, and sent me to ask Galadriel of Atontarya's whereabouts."

I stared at him for a minute, not sure if I wanted to believe him or not. Eventually, I sighed. "All right then, keep your secrets."

"Erin, I do not mean-"

I smiled and poked him in the ribs. "I'm just messin' with you. That's fine. I was just curious." On the inside, though, I didn't believe him. Something wasn't right, and I intended to find out what it was soon enough. "How long were you planning on staying here? I hope you don't mind, but...I kinda assumed I could just tag along with you on your trip back to Mirkwood, since I have nowhere else to go."

"That is fine, Erin," my friend said with a smile. "I am sure my father would be glad to have you as a guest. I planned to remain here for a few weeks, actually. I am in no hurry to return home."

My eyes lit up with joy. "Really? That's awesome! Thank you so much, Legolas!"

He chuckled. "You are very welcome, Erin. In any event, you still need time to practice your fighting skills and learn more Elvish. I do not think it would be appropriate to say 'my dog ate it' as a greeting to my father."


	6. Well That was Unexpected

A Strange Twist of Fate: Chapter Six

I stepped back several feet and paused for a millisecond to catch my breath. I was sweaty and sticky, out of energy, and every muscle in my body ached. Gosh, why did I ever agree to this?

It was our last day in Lothlórien. Legolas and I had stayed in the elven kingdom for about a month, just hanging out and enjoying our time. I had fallen in love with the Golden Wood, and had bonded with so many people there. Haldir's brothers Rumil and Orophin, a nice elf maiden named Caladhiel, and bunches of other random elves that I'd come into contact with over time.

"Are you really out of energy already?" Haldir called, taunting me. "I knew that no mortal woman would be able to beat me."

"Shut UP!" I growled, knowing that he was just doing it to tease me. Haldir and I had gotten especially close, to the point where I almost viewed him as an older brother. Legolas and I had also bonded tightly. Everyone kinda knew us as the trio that hung out together all the time.

I gathered my strength and ran at the blasted elf again, swinging my metal blade in a blur of deadly moves he himself had taught me, hoping to hit something, but was blocked by Haldir's insane defensive moves. In honor of it being our last day in Lórien, Haldir had challenged me to a duel for my last fighting lesson. He'd brought out real armor, weapons and everything to use. As I blew right past him and continued using my momentum to spin around and attack him from behind, I noticed that he was actually wearing the same armor he wore to Helm's Deep in _The Two Towers._

"Come on, Erin!" I heard Legolas shout from the edge of the clearing. "Get him!"

"I'm trying! It's harder than it looks!" I called back. Legolas had taken to come and watch our training lessons lately, and sometimes he would help with my archery lessons. We had all quickly discovered that I was much better with a sword than with a bow, though by this point I could wield both very well.

"Is it? I am not having a very difficult time over here," Haldir smirked.

I glared at him, but couldn't help myself from smiling in the process. "Then come over here! I'll wipe that smirk right off your face!" We connected blades again, and while I did manage to bump him on the side with my sword, that wasn't the objective. We were just fighting until one of us gave up. Neither of us were trying to draw blood, of course.

I won't lie, I was pretty good for the level of experience that I had, but Haldir was way better. He was an excellent defender, and didn't tire out quickly. I wasn't going to give up so easily, though I knew I was too tired to go on any longer at this point. The move I had in mind as a final attack was...shaky, but it could work if I did it right. I took a deep breath and proceeded to go at Haldir again.

Pulling away from my instructor and best friend, I gripped my single weapon and stepped towards him again, like I was going to try and run him straight through. He reacted exactly how I wanted him to by holding up his sword to block the attack, and at the last second, I twisted to the side, elbowing him in a spot that his armor didn't cover. He was caught off guard and stumbled to the side, leaving just enough time for me to spin back around and put my blade at his throat.

Haldir glanced down at the blade before him, then back up at me. "Impressive."

I smirked. "I win."

At my comment, Haldir grinned back. "Not quite." Out of nowhere, the elf somehow got past my blade and wildly swung his at my head. I panicked, thinking he was seriously going to cut my head off, and ducked. Before I could register what had happened, he had pulled my legs out from under me. I flopped onto the ground with a thud, and my blade popped out of my hand. Haldir grabbed it out of thin air, stood overtop of me, and pointed _both _blades at my chest. "Rule number one: You do not win until your opponent is dead."

Knowing I had no way out of this, I laughed and lifted my hands in surrender. "Fine, fine, fine. You win. Happy?"

He grinned , threw the swords aside, and offered a hand to help me up. "Very."

Legolas came over, applauding as I got back to my feet. "That was quite a match. For a moment there, I thought she had actually beaten you, Haldir."

The blonde marchwarden chuckled. "You did do very well, Erin. You have made much progress, though there is still certainly room for improvement."

"I know. But hey, I'm satisfied with my skills at this point."

There was a moment of awkward silence that followed after that. The sun was setting, and we all knew what had to be done now.

Legolas was the one who broke the silence. "Well...I suppose you and I should go, Erin. We still have to prepare our things for tomorrow."

I nodded, but kept my gaze on my feet. "Yeah. I guess...I guess we should." Another awkward silence.

"Farewell, Haldir," Legolas said. He leaned in and gave the older elf a brotherly hug. Haldir returned it. "I hope we can return soon." The two elves separated, and Legolas turned to me. "Come, Erin. Let us go."

He walked away, and I absentmindedly followed for a bit. Halfway across the clearing, though, I stopped. "Legolas!" I called. He turned to look at me. "Go ahead without me. I know the way back now; I can meet you there." He nodded and continued on his way. I turned around and ran back the way I had come. "Haldir!" I called. "Haldir!"

My elvish friend had been taking off his armor in the field once we had awkwardly left him, so he was caught a bit off guard when he lifted his head, only to be tackled by me. I pressed my face into his shoulder, trying not to cry. The grief had overwhelmed me so suddenly as I realized that Lothlórien was, in a sense, my home now. I fit in so well here, and now I had to leave it all behind. "I...I'll miss you, Haldir," was all I could say.

Understanding my sorrow, he hugged me back tightly. "And I will miss you as well, Erin. More than ever."

I took a shaky breath. "You won't be there to see us off in the morning, will you?"

"I wish I could be, but I will be on patrol at that hour," he replied. After a moment, I let him go, and we stared into each other's eyes sadly. When he spoke again, it was barely a whisper. "Erin...you know that you may return any time you wish. I will be here."

I choked on the lump in my throat. "P-Promise?"

It broke my heart to see tears glistening in his eyes as well. "Yes. I promise." He gave me one last hug. _"Namari__ë__." (_Farewell.)

"Goodbye Haldir," I whispered back brokenly. Before I absolutely lost it, I pulled away and looked at him one last time before turning around and solemnly walking away to return to our talen.

oOo

I went to the base of the Lothlórien royals' tree the next morning with a heavy heart. I desperately wanted to stay for even a day longer, just to ease my sadness a bit. It killed me inside to know that I might not be coming back, depending on how things turned out. What if something happened in Mirkwood and I was killed, or captured even? I felt so safe here in Lórien. So loved.

My elvish companion was already waiting for me. "Ready to go?" Legolas asked. The Lord and Lady were descending the steps behind him as I walked up.

I sighed. "Physically, yes. Mentally...not even close."

He gave me a small smile of sympathy, but said nothing. Galadriel and Celeborn stopped at the foot of the stairs, and Legolas moved beside me to face them.

Lord Celeborn spoke first. "This is not the first time you have left our woods, Thranduilion. Though I think I speak for us all when I say that it was a pleasure to have a woman reside in our realm for a time."

"The pleasure was all mine, my lord," I said quietly. "I only wish I didn't have to leave so soon."

Celeborn nodded, then allowed his wife to speak. "Oh behalf of all those who dwell in the Golden Wood, we wish you the best of luck on your journey to Mirkwood. Be safe, my friends," she said with a smile.

I returned it, though only half-heartedly. "Hopefully we will meet again someday, my lady."

Galadriel looked me in the eyes, and I heard her gentle voice in my head. _"Remember the burden you bear, Erin. Keep it safe, and tell no one of its power. Those who have the right to know if its existance already do."_

_ "I will do my best," _I vowed.

Celeborn spoke again, breaking our connection. "Now we shall lead you to the stables, where your horse is kept. From there, you will be on your own." The two of them took each others' hands and began walking, with Legolas and I falling into step behind them.

I couldn't help but think of Celeborn's last words with a sense of foreboding. _"You will be on your own..." _In a sense, he was right. I didn't have anyone to go to for advice now besides Legolas, and he certainly couldn't choose my fate for me. I would have to start making decisions on my own.

Once we reached the stables, the familiar whinny of Astley tore me from my thoughts. I looked up to see the white face of my favorite horse, flecked with grey. "Hey boy," I murmured while rubbing his nose. "Think you can carry me all the way back to your home?"

oOo

It had been about five days since we'd traded the comfort of Lothlórien for the rugged terrain of the wilderness between the realm of Galadriel and Legolas' home. Even from here, we could see the deep green blur of Mirkwood's massive trees on the horizon. It already looked huge, and we hadn't even crossed the Anduin yet. Night was quickly falling, and we stopped riding to set up camp. I, for one, was glad to have a chance at sleep.

I wasn't as morose now as I had been for the first few days of our journey, and was now looking forward to exploring the once place in Middle-Earth that Jackson hadn't captured on camera in his epic trilogy. "So...what's Mirkwood like? I hear it has lots of spiders."

Legolas laughed a bit. "Yes, it does. Hopefully we will not run into any. I know the pathways of the forest well enough to lead us through safely. At least you know how to defend yourself now, Erin. That is always a plus."

I laughed. My modern slang was starting to rub off on him a bit. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Hey, it could be worse than spiders."

"How?"

"We could all be dead."

Legolas laughed aloud again at this. "Very true." He scooted a bit closer to the small fire that he'd set up.

I had grabbed my blanket out of the bag of supplies and spread them out on the ground. Remembering the descriptions of Mirkwood that I had read in Tolkien's books before, I asked "Is Mirkwood really as dark and creepy as everyone says it is?"

Legolas sighed. "Unfortunately, yes. I hope that does not bother you."

I shrugged as I laid down. "Meh. It'll probably creep me out a little bit, but it won't be as bad since I'm not gonna be alone in there. Now _that _would suck. Majorly." He nodded and stared into the flickering flames of the fire, an unsettled look in his eyes. I frowned. "Something wrong?" It looked like he was thinking about something he didn't like.

Legolas' gaze snapped up to meet mine quickly. Too quickly. "No. I am just...nervous that the trip home will be unsafe and dangerous."

I nodded. "Uh-huh." I still hadn't forgotten Galadriel's little talk with me about Legolas hiding something. I would've prodded him more, but at the moment, I was just too friking tired. I exhaled and shifted so that I was laying on my back, with my hands resting on top of my stomach. "Night, Legolas."

"Good night, Erin. Sleep well."

oOo

I could feel the stiffness of my back and neck as soon as I woke up. _Ugh. That's what I get for sleeping on the ground so much. _I sighed and opened my eyes as I stood, blinking rapidly to clear my blurred vision from sleep. It was already ridiculously warm out, which meant we'd slept in pretty late. _Crap. Legolas is gonna kill me for- _I froze mid-stretch. "W...What the?..."

Everything was gone.

EVERYTHING.

No fire, no horse, no Legolas...nothing. Gone.

At first, I just stared at the barren field around me, my mind slowly processing what was happening. There was nothing here except the clothes on my back, and my blankets. I reached desperately for my ring, which I often twisted on my finger out of habit when I was stressed or bored. But I felt nothing there, either. I looked down at my hand, and it was then that I screamed.

The Ring of Unity was nowhere to be seen.

From there, I just panicked. I ripped my blankets off the ground, shaking them like a madwoman to see if that precious little band of silver flew out. I dropped to all fours and scrambled through the grass and ashes from last night's fire. This was the worst case-scenario. All I could think was _crap crap crap crap crap crap crap Galadriel's gonna kill you Erin crap crap crap _as I searched the area like mad, trying to wrap my mind around what had just happened.

That's when it hit me. Hit me hard. I stopped what I was doing, stood up slowly, and looked around again, remembering that Atontarya wasn't the only thing missing. As soon as I put two and two together, my blood boiled. "...Oh...my...gosh...He did not...no...friking...way..."

_Okay Erin, calm down. Just don't lose it. Don't. Don't. Don't don't don't don't DON'T DON'T DON'T DON'T..._

"OH MY FUCKING GOD! THAT BASTARD! THAT BACKSTABBING, AIRHEADED SON OF A BITCH!" I raged as I stormed around the campsite, kicking ashes and torn up grass everywhere. "I'M GONNA KILL HIM! I'M GONNA WRING HIS FILTHY LITTLE PRINCELING NECK! AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed so loud that I'm pretty sure some birds in a nearby tree got spooked and flew for their lives. "LEGOLAS! YOU BASTARD! YOU DIRTY FUCKING SON OF A MOTHER FUCKING SHIT SHIT FUCK YOU OHMYGOD!" I eventually ran out of breath and stood there in the middle of the empty field, seething. That DICK! How could he do that? What the _hell _did he do that for?

Calming down (somewhat), I gathered my blankets up and stormed off. I already had a plan of action in my head. He was gonna get it. Oooooh, he was sure gonna get it.

oOo

Haldir's POV

Two weeks. That was how long it had been since Erin and Legolas left Lothlórien. It felt like so much longer, though. Try as I might, I simply could not forget them. Her in particular. To be blunt, I had never really enjoyed the company of humans before she came here. I had always pictured them as dirty, ungraceful slobs.

I sighed and tried to focus on the task at hand. It was late at night, and my group was on our regular evening patrol of Lothlórien's borders. We were up by the northern edge at this point, and soon would be able to return home, where perhaps I could think in peace. I wish I could have convinced her to stay behind. Legolas, of course, had his duties as a prince to attend to, but Erin could have stayed here. Why did she choose to go with him? I knew how much she loved this forest. I remember clearer than anything the pain in her face when we said goodbye to each other. I desperately hoped I would not ever have to see her in that kind of pain ever again.

Suddenly, a voice from a small distance ahead pulled me out of my thoughts. "Haldir!" it cried.

All elves around me looked up at the sound, and every head turned to me. I was just as confused as them, though I did not let it show. As captain, I had to be a figure they looked up to. "Stay here," I hissed in Elvish. "I will go ahead." A few looked at me with worry, but I knew I had to go. Something was not right. That voice sounded familiar...

"Haldir!" it called out again. I set my jaw in determination to discover what this...this _thing _calling my name was and started forward, silently fitting an arrow to my bow in case things took a foul turn.

Not a minute later, I heard it cry out again. "Haldir!" It seemed much closer now, almost as if it was right in front of me, so I pressed my back flat against a tree and pulled the arrow taut. _"Daro!" _(Stop!) I commanded. _"Iston le?" _(Do I know you?)

"...Haldir? Where the fudge are you?"

My eyes widened slightly. I only knew one person who spoke in such a manner. Relaxing the tension in my bowstring, I stepped out from behind the tree, unable to believe my own eyes at who was standing in front of me.

Her hair was a mess. She had bags under her eyes, a bit of blood here and there on her clothes, and looked like she'd gotten run over by a pack of Wargs. But the most noticeable thing about her was the expression of pure anger on her face. "Erin?" I gasped.

She smirked. "Guess who I want to punch in the face right now?"


	7. Romance is Always Complicated

**A/N: Well hi there! :D Welcome back to ASTOF! I hope you're enjoying the story so far! If you're not, of even of you're on the fence about it, just keep reading! There's lots more to come! And for all you romance lovers out there...you'll like this chapter. ;) Enjoy!**

**...Oh, and just as a side note: We've switched back to Erin's POV. :)**

A Strange Twist of Fate: Chapter Seven

"So...he really did all that to you?" Haldir asked in astonishment.

"Yes," I growled as I marched along. I was headed to see Galadriel, even in my beat-up state. Take my word for it, running through a week's worth of wooded terrain that you're unfamiliar with sucks. Don't ever do it unless you have to. But that didn't matter. To be honest, I could care less about how I looked right now. I was still super-pissed that Legolas had decided to just get up and leave with my ring. I had explained the whole thing to Haldir (except why that ring was so important, of course), and he couldn't wrap his mind around it, either. I was still kind of in shock myself. I didn't think Legolas was the type of guy to do something like that. Guess I was wrong. I can't trust him like I thought I could.

"But...that makes no sense!" Poor Haldir. He seemed flustered. "Why would Legolas...that...Erin, this is madness! Why in the name of the Valar would he desert you and take your ring?"

"Hell if I know," I said darkly. I all but sprinted up the stairs and didn't waste any time in storming into the castle. Call it rude if you will, but this was urgent. "Galadriel! Lady Galadriel, it's Erin! I need to speak with you right away!" I shouted. A couple of servants freaked out and went running off to find their leader.

Haldir rushed up to my side. "Well...I am glad you are back, at the very least," he said.

Somehow I managed to smile at that. "Thanks. Glad to see you, too." I caught my breath for only a moment before Galadriel came rushing in, with Celeborn right on her tail. "My lady," I said breathlessly, bowing quickly.

She looked appalled at seeing my so dirty. "Erin! What happened to you, my child?"

I held her gaze for a few seconds, speaking through my mind to her. _"Legolas stole my ring."_

Her jaw dropped. "What? How? When?" she asked. She seemed on the verge of panic as well.

"Well...if we may have some privacy, I could tell you."

Galadriel nodded. "Of course. Come with me, dear." We made our way to her study again, and as soon as she shut the door, I began.

"About five days after we left, we stopped to set up camp. I fell asleep, woke up the next day, and the only things there were a blanket of mine and the clothes on my back. Excluding Atontarya, of course." I clenched my fists. _Gosh, if I ever see that elf again..._

"And you are sure that Legolas took it from you?" she asked, fear in her eyes.

I nodded. "Yeah. I searched that campground like my life depended on it. And why else would Legolas have left so suddenly, and in the middle of the night, I bet. He probably slipped it off my finger while I was sleeping. How I didn't wake up from all that, I'll never know."

Galadriel was silent for awhile, letting it all sink in. "I...I...Erin, I do not know what to think. Why on earth would Legolas do that? It does not fit his personality at all!"

"I know," I said sadly. "I thought he was above doing something so low. But apparently not." It was silent for a bit longer, and then I decided to voice my plan. "My lady? I know that I am in no position to ask anything of you at all, seeing as you have been nothing but gracious to me ever since I set foot in your woods. But I...if I'm to get this ring back, I will need your help."

She didn't hesitate for a second to nod. "Erin, I will do whatever it takes to help you get to the bottom of this. What do you need?"

I sighed. "I want a group of a dozen or so of your elven warriors to be my escort up to Thranduil's palace. I was thinking the group of us could travel up there as fast as possible, I'd confront Legolas about the whole thing, get my ring back, and we're done. It's a simple plan, really."

"How soon were you expecting to leave?"

"Three days. That's certainly all I need to prepare myself. I should think that the fine elves of your realm should not take any longer." I looked at her pleadingly. "I'm sorry it's such short notice, my lady. But I want that back as soon as possible, before anything goes wrong. You know how important it is that I keep a hold on that thing."

Galadriel nodded. "I do indeed. Your wish is granted, Erin. I will send for the elves that can travel light and swift, to ensure you a speedy and safe journey."

I grinned. "Thank you very much, my lady. I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart."

"Not a problem, my dear," Galadriel said with a smile. I gave her a bow, and then slipped out of her study, hoping to find the nearest washroom to clean myself up in. Instead, I almost crashed right into Haldir coming out the door.

"Oh my gosh! Oh, hey Haldir." I smiled. "What's up?"

He cracked a smile. "I was simply waiting for you to come out. If you do not mind, Erin, I would like to take a walk with you somewhere. To catch up."

"Uhh...sure!" I said. "I'd love to. It'll get my mind off of things, for sure."

"I thought it might," Haldir said.

"Hey Haldir?"

"Yes?"

I laughed. "Would you mind if I got a little cleaned up first? I wouldn't want to suffocate you with my smell."

He laughed, too. "Of course. Meet me back here when you are ready to leave."

"Got it." I ran off to get changed, and came back within an hour in a shimmering silver dress that sparkled as it moved. My hair had been washed and hung down my back, with two sections in the front pulled back and woven into a twist with a thin strand of silver ribbon holding them together. I smiled up at Haldir. "Shall we go?"

He smiled and nodded. "We shall."

The two of us walked on for some time, talking about how things had been in Lothlórien since I'd left. Eventually we made our way to a very secluded area in the city, where almost no moonlight shone through the trees around us, but there was just enough to give the entire place a heavenly glow. It was breathtaking.

Here, Haldir stopped. "I must admit, it had been so much quieter here without you running around."

I laughed. "You missed me that much, huh?"

"I did." I looked up at him, and he had a small smile on his face. "And now that you have returned...there is something that I did not get the chance to tell you before you left."

"What is it?"

At this, Haldir briefly glanced down at his feet. "I am quite attracted to you, Erin."

_WOAH. _"...Attracted...how?"

He paused for a moment. "...Romantically."

_Double WOAH. Did not see that coming. _"Oh! Well that's...that's unexpected."

Haldir sighed. "I do not think it is love, exactly...not yet, for that matter. But I am quite taken with you. And I...I wanted to ask if I could court you."

I had to think for a moment there. _Court...that's like the equivalent to dating in our world. OH MY GOSH Haldir wants to date me. WHAT THE FUAFJAHFKJD. _"Court? You and I? Oh my gosh...Haldir, I..." I looked away for a moment, then back up into his deep brown eyes. "I don't know, Haldir. It's...it's very sudden."

"I understand," he said. "I just...I just wanted to tell you how I felt. I did not want to keep it hidden from you any longer." After a moment of silence, he said "Do you remember what I told you at the feast? The first night you were in Lothlórien?"

I thought back a month. Oh yeah! _"Le tiro bein. _What does that mean, anyway? I meant to ask you that."

"It means...you look beautiful. And you did, Erin. You still do. Your eyes shine with the beauty of a thousand stars." I felt myself blush from the flattery. Haldir leaned down and tenderly kissed my cheek.

"Haldir..." I whispered. What in the world was going on? It was silent for another minute or two until I spoke again. "I...let me think about this. If I...Can I give you an answer in three days?"

"Of course," he said. "I understand that this is rather sudden."

"Thanks," I said, still really confused as to what just happened.

"May I walk you to your talen?"

I blinked. "Is it still set up?"

He chuckled. "The talen is still there, yes. I will send for someone to bring you the clothes you left behind."

"Cool," I said. "Thank you...again." We both smiled as we walked back through the woods. Neither of us said anything, but it wasn't an awkward silence, really. It was just...silence. When we did arrive back at my old talen, we said our goodbyes. I quickly climbed up the tree and flopped onto my bed, but I couldn't sleep. Not after _that _major confession.

I thought about that for awhile. Did I want to date Haldir? I mean...he was pretty handsome, now that I thought about it. And he was sweet and chivalrous, which is something I loved since it was hard to find a real gentleman back in America (At least, that's how it was where I lived). He understood me well, too, since we'd gotten so close as friends already.

That was the big issue. Friends. Up until now, that's all we had ever been. Did I want to risk ruining that? What if the relationship didn't work out and we had to break up? I had already been down that road once before, and didn't want to experience it again. And then there was the fact that he was an elf and I was human...I sighed. That might not go over well with his folks. It wasn't that I had a problem with an elf sacrificing his immortality for me or anything. That was his decision to make, not mine. It's just that...I knew that interracial relationships were frowned upon in this world by many, and difficult to maintain. I didn't want to cost him his reputation.

I groaned in frustration. There was so much at risk with something like this. And even if we could get past the elf-dating-human thing, what would that mean for me? If I started dating Haldir and ended up falling in love with him, I wouldn't be able to ever go home. I wasn't sure if I wanted to return to Earth in the future or not. If that was even possible, anyway.

I laid there for a good hour or so, taking every single detail into consideration in order to form my answer. When I finally did start to get tired, I still hadn't come up with an answer to give him. Good thing I had three days. I was gonna need it.

oOo

On the morning of May the the sixth, I approached Celeborn and Galadriel's palace dressed in my outfit I would wear for the journey up Mirkwood with my elven companions. This time, I had chosen to wear the colors of Lothlórien: white, gold, and pale grey. My top was white that had loose sleeves which hung to my elbows, a deep v-neck rimmed lined with golden material, and swirling vine patterns along the torso. A small golden gem sat at the base of the neckline. My pants were a tight-fitting silver-grey, and my boots were white to my top. A golden belt with a leaf charm hung on my hips, and two golden bands were worn on each of my wrists. Caladhiel has twisted my front hairline into a braid, and the rest of my hair hung down freely. I quickly ascended the stairs and stepped inside the palace, looking around for a certain elf I knew. Pulling a servant aside, I said quietly _"Man sad Haldir?" _(Where is Haldir?)

The servant kindly led me through the palace hallways until we came to the palace's throne room, which was all-white and almost completely bare, save for the two thrones at the front of the room, carved intricately out of wood that shimmered gold in the light of the morning sun. Galadriel and Celeborn sat in these, and Haldir himself was standing before them, discussing something. All three of them turned their gazes to me once I entered.

_"Goheno nin," _(Forgive me) I said immediately. "I didn't mean to intrude."

"It is not a problem, my dear," Galadriel smiled. "We were just discussing your departure with the Lothlórien escort. Haldir has asked to go with you."

_Cue mental facepalm. _"Awesome!" I said cheerily. "I actually came to talk to him privately, so if you don't mind, I'm gonna steal him for a minute." The two royals gave their nods of permission, and Haldir smiled and followed me as I quickly walked out of the throne room and ducked into an empty hallway.

_"Mae govannen, L__ó__nnan__û__niel," _(Well met, Erin) he said politely. I could see the anxious twinkle in his eyes.

"Hello to you too, Haldir." I said with a nod. "So...I hear you're coming with me? Err...us?"

"Yes, I was planning on it," he said. "I'd certainly like to be there to see you give Legolas a piece of your mind."

I laughed a bit, then put on a serious face. "Yeah...yeah, that'll be great. Anyway, I...I came to give you your answer like I promised. It's been three days, after all."

His grin widened. "Excellent. And that is?..." He looked hopeful.

I sighed. "It took me awhile to think about this, but...I...I don't think it would work out. Not at the moment, anyway." The smile absolutely dropped from his face. It broke my heart. "Before you say anything, hear me out. I'm not saying that I don't like you, because I do. Just...just not in that way. I don't want to risk messing up the great friendship that we've got. And also...I've only known you for a month, as crazy as it seems. It's too soon for me to be in a relationship right now."

Haldir looked absolutely broken for a moment, but quickly regained his composure. Within moments, he had replaced his emotionless mask of seriousness and straightened up to his full height. _Dang...I must've really hurt him to make him look so vulnerable like that. _"I understand, Erin. Worry not. It is not an issue." He tried on a smile that didn't fit. "Really."

I gave him the most sympathetic look that I could. "I'm sorry, Haldir. I truly am."

"You need not apologize, Erin. I will be fine."

"You sure?" He nodded. After a moment, I let out a breath. "...Alright. I...I guess I'll go. We do leave today, after all." I turned to go, but then stopped and cast a glance at him over my shoulder. "Are you still coming with us?"

He nodded. "Yes...I was planning on it."

I smiled briefly before turning away. "Cool. Uh...see ya." Without another word, I went back into the throne room, acknowledged Celeborn and Galadriel, and continued on my way. _Holy mother of Mary...this is gonna be awkward._

**A/N: Well...I guess some of you will probably hate me now. XD Namely Glory Bee, who reviewed in favor of Erin/Haldir. I'm so sorry! ;A; But trust me, this has to happen. I can't say anything, or I'll give future events away! **

**Next chapter will be up soon. :) Oh, and you see that GINORMOUS blue button down there that says "Review this chapter?" You should click it. If you don't, I won't update, and you will be left with a depressed Haldir and a Legolas who still needs a punch in the face. :D MWAHAHAHAHA**


	8. The Forest of DOOOOOM

**A/N: Hey there! Sorry for doing yet ANOTHER Author's Note, but I just wanted to ask: Do you guys think this is moving too quickly? :S Originally this would've been chapter 10, but I removed a bunch of random filler scenes because I thought they weren't important and wanted to keep progressing on the plot. Now I feel like I'm going too fast, though. ;A; Help me! Anyway, here's the next chapter. Legolas finally gets yelled at :D**

A Strange Twist of Fate: Chapter Eight

The journey to Mirkwood itself wasn't that interesting. The band of elves I was traveling with consisted of some of Lórien's best representatives, many of which I was close friends with. Obviously there was some pretty awkward tension between Haldir and I, but I tried my best to ignore it and treat him like a friend, as I had always done. The way I saw it, it would only be awkward if I made it awkward.

I remember the day we first rode up to Mirkwood (we had each been given horses to speed up our journey). My eyes bugged out of my head as Rick trotted up to the edge of the massive forest. "...Woah."

It was almost exactly as Tolkien described it, but about two hundred percent creepier. The trunks of the trees were such a dark brown, they almost looked black, and the branches were twisted an gnarled in such a way that it looked like they were large, groping hands, waiting to grab you and swallow you up in the tainted forest. The leaves weren't any better. They were a dark, hypnotizing green, some withered and dying, and every single one was thick and appeared to block out almost all light from the sun. "Well, that's comforting."

Orophin, who had been riding beside me at the time, chuckled. "I take it you have never visited Mirkwood before?"

I shook my head. "It's, ah...not very inviting."

"That is true. But do not worry. My brother, along with several others here, know the forest well. We will get to Thranduil's halls safely, I assure you." Orophin was the oldest of the three brothers, and he had long, dark brown hair, and the same brown eyes as Haldir. He was also the tallest.

"I sure hope so, because we're going in either way," I said as our company moved into a single file line and headed inside. Haldir was leading our party, and I chose to stay at the back of the pack, so that my plan of how I wanted to make my entrance would work. Unfortunately, that meant I had to pull up the hood of my grey elven cloak to keep my identity hidden. I didn't want anyone finding out that I was in Mirkwood until I got to Legolas.

The air was very close and muggy inside, and the lack of light made it hard to figure out what time of day it was. Within two days I had lost all sense of direction, and was relying fully on Haldir's elf-senses to get us through safely. Thankfully, neither Orophin or Rumil seemed offended about me rejecting their brother, so I could always hang out with them when I needed company. They were pretty cool. Rumil was hilarious, too.

About a week or so after we entered Mirkwood, we stopped for the night to set up camp and rest. I was required to go on watch that night, along with Rumil himself. He was the youngest, and had the same light blonde hair as Haldir, though his eyes were a rather striking leaf green. He was to watch the north side of the camp, and I the south. I was working on peeling the bark off of a twig on the ground in my boredom when he came up and stood next to me. "...I do not know about you, but I am about to die of boredom."

I smiled. "Join the club. How much longer is this journey gonna take?"

"I believe Haldir predicted it to be a few more days." Rumil paused for a moment, then said "Pardon me if I am being nosy, but... is there a reason you went with us and have some secret plan to confront Prince Legolas?"

I huffed. "Yes. Yes there is. He left me deserted in the middle of the wilderness with nothing but a blanket, and stole my ring. I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind and get my ring back. Simple."

"That does not seem like something Prince Legolas would do."

I rolled my eyes. "Believe me, I thought the same thing, Rumil. Everyone did. That's the other thing. I want to find out why he did it."

"Well, I wish you the best of luck, _mellon nin." _(My friend.)

I smiled as I stared back out into the all-consuming blackness of Mirkwood. "Thanks."

oOo

It turns out Haldir had been right. Four days later, he approached me and said "Just up ahead is the town where Thranduil resides. I suggest you make yourself hidden, Erin."

I nodded and flipped my hood up again. We formed into a group again as we emerged from the tangled and twisted part of Mirkwood. Although I knew I shouldn't have, I couldn't help but look around at the town that was the pride and joy of the elven king. It was amazing. Just like that, the blackened and dying trees gave way to trees that had thick, brown barks, and summer green leaves that shone with health and happiness. The small realm itself was sort of like Rivendell in the sense that all of the buildings were built into the landscape. Trees wove in and out of the homes of the elves, and some of the trees even made up for a wall or two here and there. Where the stone had previously been dirt, it turned to stone, and several elves looked out at us as they heard the _clip-clop _of our horse's hooves trotting down the street. Some of the houses were on the ground, and some were like treehouses, suspended in the air between the branches of the strong trees. It was easy for me to tell that Kemenya was kept here. There was also a happy, comforting warmth that radiated from the small kingdom. It made you feel grateful to be here instead of out in the woods that had been tainted by Sauron's power.

The evil that was constantly pressing down on those that resided here was kept out also by a giant stone wall with one pair of massive metal gates that shone as if they were made of mithril. I assumed they were, and they clanged shut rather loudly as the last of our party made it through. Elves roamed freely through the streets, most of them clad in rich colors, such as deep olive-greens, ruby reds, and sapphire blues. Brown and gold were also widely used colors in the elves' wardrobes, but the one thing that stuck out to me the most was that almost all of them had dark colored hair.

Finally we arrived at Thranduil's palace. Oddly enough, there were no gates that surrounded the palace, but there was a carved archway of two humongous golden trees that was surrounded by a low wall of stone. Guards were positioned at various stations along these walls, and once we reached the archway, two of them came forward and stood in front of us. I was in the exact middle of the small circle we had formed, and could hear Haldir converse with one of the other guards ahead. Unfortunately, I hadn't learned enough elvish yet to get all of what they were saying, but from what I could pick up, it was just basic introductions, and at the very end, Haldir said "We seek an audience with Prince Legolas, son of your king."

Apparently Haldir was an important figure to them, because they let us in without any trouble. And I'll be honest, I gasped when I saw the full grandeur of the palace. It was a cave. A humongous cave, with massive stone doors, and the Forest River flowed in front of them. A wooden bridge with ivy trailing along the railings had been built over the river, and a great case of stairs led up to the main entrance to the palace, which also had guards stationed at it. The cave was surrounded by more trees that stretched high into the sky, and our group moved on up over the bridge, halting several feet away from the foot of the stairs.

I watched through a gap in the bunch of elven heads in front of me as one of the guards continued up the stairs and went inside the palace, no doubt to find Legolas. I adjusted my hood so that my hair was completely covered by it, and so that my eyes were also hidden. It did not look out of place, really, because all of the other elves had their hoods up as well to shade their faces from the early June heat.

A few minutes later, I heard the doors swing open, and out came the dickwad prince that I so terribly hated at the moment. I snarled under my breath as he came down the stairs, a smile on his face as he saw Haldir. I shifted Rick over a couple inches so that I was completely hidden behind another elf and listened for my cue.

oOo

Legolas' POV

Making one last adjustment to my circlet, I nodded to the doormen as they opened the door for me and I stepped outside. With my brown and green robes trailing behind me, I made my way down the stairs, grinning when I spotted Haldir and several other friends from Lothlórien grouped together at the foot of the stairs. I quickly made my way to them, coming to a stop and spreading my arms in a welcoming gesture. _"Nin mellons! Man cerel le thren?" _(My friends! What are you doing here?)

Haldir smile down at me. _"M__á__ra aur__ë__, nin ernil. Goheno nin, Im pereth si elidhannen nest__á__r le." _(Hello, my prince. Forgive me, but I have a messenger for you.)

I pursed my lips slightly in curiosity. A messenger? From whom? Galadriel?

Suddenly, Haldir and several other elves moved aside, and one lone elf on a dark grey horse came forward. They wore a light grey cloak like that of all the others, though this elf in particular was keeping his face shrouded in shadow, so that I could only see from the edge of his nose to his chin. _"Ernil Legolas." _(Prince Legolas.) I blinked at the bitterness of their tone. _"Im gelir celi ad l__í__n." _(I am happy to see you again.)

The last bit was said with such hostile sarcasm that I nearly flinched as he rode forward until he was particularly close, then smoothly dismounted his horse, taking care not to disturb his cloak. I narrowed my eyes at the mysterious being as he stepped closer to me. _"...Lel__í__n man le?" _(Who are you?) I said warily.

The elf smirked, and then, before I could blink, he whipped a deadly sharp blade out from beneath his cloak and pressed it to the side of my neck, removing his hood in the process. I froze, afraid to even breathe. "...No...it is impossible..." I whispered.

Erin laughed darkly at my sudden fear. "Miss me?"

oOo

Erin's POV

The fear in Legolas' ice blue eyes was so sadistically satisfying as I held the blade to his throat. "Miss me?"

The almighty Prince of Mirkwood stared into my eyes in utter shock. "How...h-how did you-"

"I went back to Lothlórien," I spat. "You know, where you can actually trust people these days?" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the guards panic and call for help, but I didn't even flinch. Legolas winced at my harsh words. My old anger towards him flared up again, and I dropped my blade from his neck, only to grab a fistful of his robes and yank him close to my face. "You stole my ring. WHERE IS IT, LEGOLAS? WHERE THE FUCK IS IT?" I drew back a hand to punch him, pleased to see him shrink back a bit. Sadly, he never felt any pain.

Next thing I knew, a fist was driven into my stomach, as two other pairs of hands grabbed my arms and pinned the down, holding my back as I struggled. Dang, those guards were fast. "You are the most stuck up, pigheaded BASTARD I've ever met! You don't deserve to be a prince of anything! _Nai Ungoliant meditha le!" _(May Ungoliant devour you!) I shouted at him. That last insult the guards understood, and they tightened their grip on me as three more stood behind Legolas, each one aiming an arrow at my face. "You hear me, Legolas? I HATE YOU! Give me back my ring!" The guards were shouting things at me now, and I was punched again, knocking the breath from me. I didn't care. They could punch me all they wanted; I was still gonna yell at him.

_"Daro,"_ (Stop) Legolas commanded. All of the guards who were restraining me looked up at their prince in shock. He then looked at me. I could tell he was trying to glare at me coldly, but I could see the regret in his eyes. "Erin...I am so sorry for what I did you you. Please...forgive me, my friend-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I yelled. "How DARE you call me that! Clearly you have no idea how to treat a friend!" The guards tensed, but did nothing.

He raised a hand and spoke again. "Please, let me finish. Forgive me, Erin. I did not want to leave you out in the middle of nowhere like that, but I...I had no choice."

I scoffed. "Sure. Like I'm gonna buy that."

"I was under orders, Erin."

"From who?"

He sighed. "...My father."

oOo

I was shoved roughly to my knees on the floor of the throne room, like a prisoner. Guess those guards didn't have much respect for me after screaming at their prince. I did nothing to resist now, knowing it wasn't the time.

At Legolas' word, the guards that had been holding me followed after him and took me into the palace. The rest of the Lothlórien party was ushered to the stables to allow their horses to rest, and would be given a place to stay somewhere in town. As we had walked through the cave where Legolas had grown up, it took all I had not to look around and marvel at how grand and stunning the elves had made the place look. A cave underground was the last place I'd expect to see an elf living in, but they had done everything they could to keep it connected with nature by planting things everywhere possible. From the little bits and pieces I saw (for I was staring at the back of Legolas' head the entire time), everything was decked out in green, gold, and brown. You almost couldn't tell you were in a cave, really.

When we did arrive in the throne room, Legolas entered first, said something in Elvish to announce my presence, and then stepped aside. I stayed still, even after the guards stepped away from me. It was dead silent for a moment, until the King spoke in Common. "Who are you, and why have you threatened my son?"

I stayed silent and kept my gaze on the floor.

He spoke again, more forceful this time. "I believe I asked you a question, young lady."

At this, I gritted my teeth and spoke to the stone beneath me. "My name is Erin. And as for the second question..." Now I finally lifted my gaze to glare at the king. "...you should know the answer to that."

Now that I got a good look at him, I realized how much he looked like his son. Same light blond hair and strong jaw. Same tall, fit build. He had centuries of age written on his face, but he still appeared younger than Elrond. He was dressed in swirling robes of brown and gold, and on his head sat a circle of green leaves, dotted with a few flower blossoms here and there, no doubt to represent the season of spring. His eyes were a much, much darker version of Legolas', and he had a stern look about him overall. Legolas stood next to his father's throne, also watching me carefully, but with pity.

Thranduil's eyes glittered. "Should I? And why is this?"

"Because," I growled as I slowly rose from the ground, "your son put up an act of befriending me, allowing me to put almost all the trust I had in him, promised to take me here as a traveling companion and best friend, and then left me in the middle of nowhere, taking all of the supplies, the horse, and my ring with him!" I took a menacing step forward. "And he said it was under your orders!"

Thranduil studied me carefully for a long while. Eventually he looked over at Legolas, who just nodded as if an unspoken question had passed between the two. He looked back at me, let out a breath, and then looked over at a servant and said something to him in elvish. The servant blinked, as if confused about the order, but Thranduil just looked at him again and repeated the direction. The servant glanced at me warily, then scurried off to so whatever he was told.

The king of Mirkwood looked to me again, but this time he smiled, like I was an old friend he was welcoming into his home. "Well, Lady Erin, I believe that there had been quite a large misunderstanding between the three of us. I apologize for your rather harsh treatment from our guards. If you do not mind, I would be honored to have you as a guest in my household until we can get all of this straightened out."

_Wait, wtf? Now he's offering me a room here? _"Uhh...that's a very generous offer, but I think-"

"Oh, come now," he interrupted. "You must, Erin. We would both love to have you." Legolas smiled as well.

I looked at both of them. _Well...I do need a place to stay..._ "Okay. If it's really that important to you."

"Excellent," Thranduil said, clapping his hands together. "I will have Legolas escort you to your room. And, if you do not mind, I would ask that you meet with me privately later tonight. I will have Legolas drop by again at some point this evening to come get you."

"...Okay," I said again. So now I had another meeting to go to. Great. Legolas stepped forward and extended a hand. I glared at him. "Just take me to my room." He awkwardly drew his hand back, nodded, and off we went.


	9. Blackmail?

A Strange Twist of Fate: Chapter Nine

As Legolas and I walked through the halls of the underground palace, I tried to distract myself from wanting to punch him in the face by looking around at all the paintings of Legolas' ancestors, décor, and and everything else that was inside. There seemed to be an endless amount of hallways here, always twisting and turning and branching off into other ones. Legolas seemed to know where he was going, though. Speaking of Legolas...he hadn't said anything since we left the room. Neither had I.

As if he had read my thoughts, the crown prince suddenly cleared his throat and spoke. "So, now that you are a guest here, I was hoping we could-"

"Oh, shut up," I rolled my eyes and glared at him. "I'm still not on friendly terms with you."

Legolas sighed. "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

"Yeah! Give me my freaking ring back!"

"As much as I wish I could...I no longer have it."

I stopped dead in my tracks. _No. If he lost it..._ "What do you mean you don't have it?"

"I was not instructed to keep it, so I gave it to my father."

"Oh." We walked on for a moment more, until I paused again. "Wait. What exactly were your orders?" I put air quotes on the 'orders' part.

Legolas stopped walking also. "Well, originally I was-"

"Wait. Let's go somewhere...more private."

Legolas gestured to the door we were next to. "We could go here."

"What's in there?"

"Your room."

I looked at it. "...Oh." I opened the door and the two of us slipped inside. It was a fairly spacious room, with a large bed that looked like it could fit two people instead of one, a wardrobe, several candles on the walls, another door that most likely went off into a private bathroom, and an opening in the wall that revealed a balcony that was shaded by the trees. The floor and walls were fairly dark in color, but the candles and sunlight streaming in from the balcony gave off plenty of light for me to be comfortable here. There were a lot of nature-themed decorations in the room, but my personal favorite was the fact that the bed was sort of like a pencil-post bed that is known on Earth. The cool part was that each post was connected to both the floor and the ceiling, and carved to look like four very realistic trees.

I walked over to the bed and sat down on it, surveying the room. "It's nice," I commented. "I like it."

Legolas smiled. "I am glad. Now, about my instructions from my father."

"Oh yeah. Tell me what's going on."

He sighed. "The original plan was for me to ride to Lothlórien and ask Galadriel where Atontarya was, and then relay that information back to my father. But I was also told that if I happened to find the Ring of Unity on my journey, I was to bring it back to Mirkwood and give it to my father. And when you came along, well...I did what I was told."

I frowned. "Why didn't you just ask me for it?"

"I did not think that you would let me have it."

He was right. "No, I wouldn't have. But that's because I'm the rightful bearer of it, not you. I'm the only one who's supposed to have it." I looked at him darkly. "It really wasn't a smart move for you to just take it from me like that."

"I am sorry, Erin, but...you do not understand. I had no other choice. My homeland is at stake."

At this, I raised an eyebrow. "What? What's that supposed to mean?"

Legolas looked like he was about to answer, but then stopped. "I am sure my father will explain it to you tonight when he speaks with you." Before I could say anything, he turned and headed for the door. "I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, for I am truly sorry for how I treated you. I will allow you to clean yourself up. _M__á__ra mesta, _Erin." (Goodbye) Legolas then stepped back out into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

I waited a moment until I was sure he had left, then let out a frustrated growl and flopped back onto the bed. "What the frick? That doesn't even make any sense!"

oOo

I spent the majority of the day wandering around the palace, figuring out where everything was., and trying to make new friends. The Mirkwood elves weren't bad, but...they were so different from the ones in Lothlórien. I only met two that I could really get along with, and I didn't know where the rest of our traveling party was staying, so I couldn't go visit them.

That evening, I decided to sit out on my balcony that jutted out from the left side of the palace. Moonlight slipped between the few trees that hung over the balcony and found me standing at the railing as I gazed up at the dark night sky, watching the stars. I was wearing a simple dress that was such a dark shade of blue, it looked black from a distance. It had two long, belled sleeves that reached all the way down to my wrists, and a thin, sheer overlay of silver that hung from the hips down. The elves had, once again, provided me with beautiful dresses, since I had none to call my own. I had left all my fine ones back in Lórien at my talen, which I had made Caladhiel promise to watch over for me and make sure no one else went inside of it and dug through my stuff.

It was here that Legolas found me. He knocked, but I didn't feel like getting the door. "It's open. Come in," I called over my shoulder.

He entered, and approached me from behind as I watched the last of the lights of the town below go out. "My father asked for me to come get you. He is ready to speak with you," he said.

"Okay." I didn't move, though. I just kept staring down.

Legolas sensed my discomfort. "What troubles you, Erin?"

Even though I was still pissed at him, I sighed. "I don't fit in here like I do in Lothlórien. That place is like...my home now. I guess you could say I'm homesick." I paused for a second. "I feel stupid saying that."

"It is nothing to be ashamed of," Legolas said. "I have been homesick before was well, when I was young. I am more used to being away from home now, I suppose, but that matters not."

"I didn't mean to be offensive or anything," I quickly replied. "Your kingdom is great, it's just..." I trailed off, at a loss for words.

"Not what you are used to?"

I nodded. "Yeah. That's a good way to put it."

We were silent for a moment, until Legolas spoke again. "We should go. My father is waiting."

I exhaled, then nodded again. "Yeah, I know." Turning to face him, I said "Lead the way."

Legolas gave me a tiny smile, then turned and walked out of the room. I followed him through the twisting hallways that I knew a bit better after exploring them today, and within a few minutes we had arrived at what I already knew was the royal family's private library. It was also fairly large in size, though not as big as Galadriel and Celeborn's. It was decorated in shades of deep red, gold, and brown. Very rich colors, and a fireplace burned at the center of one wall, casting flickering shadows around the room.

King Thranduil was seated in a large plush chair in front of the fire. He had previously been reading a green book, but looked up upon hearing me enter. "Ah, Erin." He smiled and gestured to a chair like his. "Come, my dear. Have a seat."

I smiled. I knew I had to be polite to the king, since he was letting me live in his palace and all. "Thanks." I plopped down in the chair, smoothed my dress, and looked up at him. I heard the door quietly close, and knew the two of us were now alone. "So...what did you want to talk about?"

"I am glad you asked. I wanted to speak with you about...this." He reached into some hidden pocket within his robes and pulled out a tiny box, no bigger than the size of my palm by width and length, and only about two inches in height. It had beautiful swirling patterns carved into it as a border, and several precious jewels were also embedded into the box. On the lid, the letter "T" was engraved in flamboyant cursive, no doubt to represent the king's name. Thranduil opened the lid to the box, and my eyes narrowed slightly when he lifted out the thing that had gotten me into this mess. "I believe this is yours, is it not?"

"Yes," I said quietly. "My ring. Atontarya, as you know it."

Thranduil nodded. "The Ring of Unity..." he whispered. He placed it back into the box. "I understand that you are upset over the fact that my son has taken it from you."

"Very. What interests me, though, is the fact that he said it was you who gave him those instructions." I kept my gaze cold and hard as I looked at him.

"So he did tell you about that, did he?" Thranduil replied, a thoughtful look on his face. It bothered me that he saw nothing wrong with this. "Did he explain to you why I asked him to do such a thing?"

I shook my head. "No. He said you would tell me that."

The elvenking smiled. "Then tell you I shall." He pulled something else out of the box, but covered them with him fist before I could identify them. He tucked the box back into his robes and stood from his chair, pacing as he spoke. "Surely after your journey up here from Lothlórien you understand our current situation with Dol Guldur, right?" I nodded, and he went on. "As I am positive Galadriel has told you, the reason that the evil is kept at bay is because I possess Kemenya."

"She said that was part of it, yes."

"As much as I hate to say this...it is the _only _reason, Erin." He stopped pacing momentarily and looked at me, speaking in a low voice. "The Dark Lord's power is growing. It always has been. With every passing day, the strength of Dol Guldur grows...and with it, the strength of my own people weakens." A sorrowful look passed over his face. "If they were to attack us, we would never be able to repel them. Not even with Kemenya on our side. These are dark times, Erin. I fear for the survival of my people...and also for my remaining heir."

At this, I cocked my head slightly. "What do you mean by that?"

The king sighed, and in that moment it seemed as if decades of age suddenly was visible on his face. "...Legolas was not always my only son. My wife, Vanya, and I were graced with two sons: Legolas, whom you know, and his older brother, Caunion. Caunion looked just like his mother...same light brown hair, same stunning blue eyes...Legolas also has his mother's eyes, and her personality. Soft-spoken and kind, but firm. Caunion had my spirit. He was a fighter, very outgoing, a natural warrior. He and Legolas were very close as young elflings. When Legolas was only...oh, about thirteen centuries or so, Caunion was over two thousand years old. He was a very skilled bow and swordsman, and was captain of Mirkwood's sword division in the armies. Around that time, we had been getting continuously harassed by small bands of Orcs that would come up and try and break into the city. They were not hard to battle, but eventually they became so annoying, I ordered for some of our troops to go down to Dol Guldur and try and take back the forest that had once been ours.

"From the information our scouts had gathered up until that point, we thought it was a weak point in Sauron's growth, so we decided to take it as an opportunity to try and fight them. We did not think there was anything down in the great stone fortress other than Orcs, and maybe a few goblins, so we did not expect much." A grave expression built on his face. "We were wrong. I waited weeks for the troops to return and when they did..." He paused here.

I bit my lip. "Caunion did not return with them, did he?"

"Oh, he did," Thranduil said solemnly. "He returned...as nothing more than a mangled corpse, bloodied and cold to the touch. Dead." His voice shook a bit at the end, and he paused again to recompose himself. "It turned out that there was more than Orcs holed up in Dol Guldur. Something far, far worse. A Nazgûl." I cringed inwardly at the name. "The Witch-King of Angmar. Our elves had begun attacking the forces of Dol Guldur, and had managed to break through the outer walls of the fortress. Caunion had been at the head of the line. As a result, he had been the first to get attacked by the evil thing. According to witnesses, he...he was half-eaten by the Witch-King's Fell Beast."

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

Thranduil shook his head. "There is no need to apologize, dear. In any event, Caunion was slain. After that, the battle went completely downhill. The few elves that managed to escape with their lives were lucky that they could at least bring his body back for a proper burial." The King sighed. "It hurt my wife deeply, for she had loved both of her sons dearly. She became morose, and fearful of the darkness that had taken her son away. She could not live in Mirkwood anymore, lest she go mad. So she left for the Undying Lands shortly after Caunion died. That left Legolas and I on our own." His tone changed now from sad to bitter. "The evil of Dol Guldur has taken two members of my family away from me, plus countless other lives that have been lost trying to constantly fend them off. The darkness is bearing down on us, Erin. It will not be much longer until even my own home is no longer protected anymore. I will not see Legolas driven away from his home. I will not let them have the pleasure of driving another loved one away from me."

I smiled at his patriotism. "Of course! You must fight for your people's freedom!"

"Yes!" King Thranduil cried. He then returned to he previous quiet tone. "But we cannot do it on our own. That is why I have these." He opened his fist to reveal what he had removed from the box, and my eyes bugged out of my head.

There, in the middle of his palm, sat what could unmistakeably be Kemenya, the Ring of Earth. But what shocked me more was...was...

"...Lhachya," I breathed. "The Ring of Fire!" I looked up at him, shocked. "B-But...how? All these long years, it's been lost! Galadriel said so!" Now that I could finally see the Elven Element Bands, I was in awe of them. They were each wrought of silver, with designs appearing from a colored enamel background that corresponded with the element each ring represented. Kemenya's background was a light green that shone proudly, and had a design that looked like many silver tree branches running and twisting around the band. Lhachya was similar in design, though its enamel was a bright fiery red, and the leftover silver was etched into several curving, rough lines that resembled flames.

Thranduil chuckled. "Not lost...hidden is a better word for it, I believe."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "How did you get it?" I asked again.

"Simple!" replied the king. "When Lord Glorfindel died, I happened to come across the ring first. Seeing as he had passed on, I took Lhachya to my own halls. For safekeeping, of course."

"And you didn't tell anyone else about this?"

"Allow me to better explain myself, dear Erin. You see, it has always been known to me that my people are unable to defend Mirkwood from the might of Dol Guldur on their own ever since Caunion died. With just one of the Elemental Bands, we are, in a sense, powerless. It is not enough. And one day...a thought crossed my mind." Here he looked over at me again, a twinkle in his eye. "What if I did not have simply one? What if...I had all four?"

I blinked. "All four of them? Well...you'd be able to control all four elements, then."

"Exactly!" Thranduil exclaimed. "So I began to make the necessary preparations to do just that. But of course, I knew that without Atontarya, the power of the Elven Element Bands was still hindered. So I sent Legolas to gather information about the Ring of Unity for me. But of course, then you came along..."

"So let me guess," I said. "You want my ring, and the other two that you still don't have, in order to defeat Dol Guldur and get your kingdom back."

He nodded. "You are a very intelligent woman, Erin. Yes, that is exactly what I planned to do. Unfortunately, there is a slight problem with my plan."

Here, I had to smirk. "You don't know where the other two rings are, do you?"

"Not necessarily. I know where they are kept, yes. But as king..." he sighed. "I have duties of my own to attend to, Erin. And I cannot order to send messengers to retrieve them for me unless I gave the secret of the Elemental Bands away. That is where you come in."

_WHAT? _"Me? What do you want me for?"

"Erin, you are the rightful bearer of this ring, correct?" He pulled the Ring of Unity out from inside his robes again and held it up for me to see. It glittered in the firelight (which I now noticed had a strangely magical sort of warmth to it).

I nodded slowly, not sure where he was going with this. "Yeah..."

"Then obviously you are a trustworthy individual who knows much about these rings already."

I finally realized what he was getting at. "You want me to help you get them."

Thranduil nodded. "However, there are a few conditions. The biggest one is that you must not tell anyone about your mission. You must retrieve them in secret, and bring them back to me without anyone else knowing."

_Hold on a second, pal. _"Excuse me? You want me to steal from Elrond and Galadriel?" I said in shock. That was a bit much to ask!

"I would prefer to use the term 'temporarily borrow.'" Seeing the 'wth' expression on my face, he gave me a sympathetic smile. "I apologize for this, Erin, but you must listen to me. Galadriel and Elrond are both honorable elves, to be certain, but...think about it. Do you really think they would give up their most valuable weapons so easily? They have their own homes to look after. I highly doubt that they would be willing to go along with this plan of mine. I love them both dearly, but they can be a bit too paranoid at times."

I scoffed. "I don't think stealing from them makes things any better."

"Then think of it this way," Thranduil said. "If you bring back those two rings to me for me to only borrow for a few weeks or so, I will return your own ring to you, along with the others to return to their original owners."

I eyed him darkly. "And if I refuse?"

"Then I will keep your ring and Lhachya until I can find someone else to do it for me."

I clenched my jaw and was silent for a long while, going over my options. "...Even if I did want to help you, how do I know that you'd keep your end of the deal?"

"I will swear on Atontarya itself," he said. When I frowned in confusion again, he elaborated. "Being a ring of power, any oath sworn on the ring itself will be kept under pain of death."

At this, I tensed slightly. "That's quite a lot to put at stake, isn't it?"

"It will be that way for both of us, for I would have you swear to return the rings to me in return. I believe it is equal that way." When I said nothing, he went on. "If it would comfort you more, I will go first." He closed his fist around the Ring of Unity, and said "I, King Thranduil of Mirkwood, son of Oropher, swear that if Erin should bring the Rings of Water and Air to me, I will return all of the Elven Element Bands to her after their use, under pain of death."

A faint white light could be just barely seen from inside Thranduil's closed fingers. It shimmered briefly, then disappeared. "That's it?" I asked.

"Yes. It is simple." The elvenking then took one of my hands, place the ring inside, and curled my fingers into a fist also, keeping one of his own hands on top of mine. "All you must do now is state your end of our little bargain."

I stood there for a long time, going over the entire conversation in my head. I needed to really think about this. If all Thranduil wanted to do was protect his home, then at least he had good intentions. Was it worth stealing from the rulers of Lothlórien and Rivendell? And if I refused his offer, would I ever get another chance to get back my own ring, as well as Glorfindel's?

Silence filled the room for a really, really long time. I was surprised that he didn't yell at me to hurry up with my decision. Finally, I sighed. "My choice has been made," I said quietly.

Thranduil looked hopeful. "And that choice is?"

I looked at him suspiciously one last time. Then, ever so slowly, I quietly said the words he wanted to hear. "I, Erin of Minas Tirith...daughter of James...swear that...that...that I will accept his terms, and bring Aearya and Sûlya to him." The brief flash of light appeared and disappeared again, and Thranduil quickly removed Atontarya from my grasp, claiming it as his again.

"Wonderful, my dear." He pulled me into a stiff hug, to which I awkwardly hugged him back. "I am so very glad that you decided to help."

We separated, and I sighed. "So...when do I leave?"

At this, the king got a sheepish sort of grin on his face. "I am sorry, Erin...it seems as though one crucial detail had escaped my mind..."

**A/N: OHHHHH SNAP. SUSPENSE. XD Lol. Anyway, thanks so much to all who have faved, reviewed, followed...etc, etc. If you want to see the real-life Elven Element Bands, just go to . It's an entire site where you can buy LotR jewelry, including the four Elemental Bands in this story. I just wanted to let you guys know that, since I didn't come up with the designs for them, either. But the Ring of Unity is 100% mine. That's not on the site, it's based off of an actual birthstone ring that I own (and am wearing right now lol). See ya next chapter! :D**


	10. Spiders Suck

A Strange Twist of Fate: Chapter Ten

I angrily shoved the last of my supplies into my bag and shouldered it, storming out of my room and raging as I did so. "You've gotta be kidding me! First I get blackmailed into stealing rings from pointy eared people, and now this?"

Legolas sighed as he followed me through the hallways. "Erin, please calm down."

"Seriously! Out of all the elves in Mirkwood, I get stuck with _you _on this adventure? Your dad's gotta be planning my downfall or something," I grumbled to the blonde who was annoyingly tailing me.

"It would not be as bad if you looked at it in a positive light instead of complaining about it all the time."

"Shut up, Legolas." I emerged from within the castle walls and descended the stairs, quickly making my way to where Rick was being kept. Thankfully, the prince took my advice and stopped talking. We arrived in the stables, and an elf led me to where both of our horses were kept. _"Hannon le," _(Thank you) I said to him. He nodded to me, and bowed to Legolas in return. I checked to make sure everything was strapped down tight, then mounted my dark grey horse as my new traveling buddy got on top of his dazzling white one. Without a word to him I flicked the reins and started off, hearing Legolas follow after me.

The two of us traveled for the majority of the day, with Legolas in front since he knew the terrain better. Eventually I let my mind wander, trusting Rick to stay behind my guide. _Stealing from Galadriel and Elrond...how does Thranduil expect that to work? I don't even know where they're hidden, and both Rivendell and Lothl__ó__rien are pretty big. Heck, they could even have them buried somewhere! How should I know? _My eyes scanned the treetops above us for any enemies. _Whatever. As long as I can get out of this creepy forest, it's cool. I guess I can just wing it for everything else. _Now that I looked around, I started getting slightly paranoid and – dare I say it? - afraid of all the creepy-crawlies out there that could probably eat us in our sleep. "How do you stand this place?"

Legolas glanced over his shoulder, surprised by my out-of-the-blue-question. "Well...it is my home. I have gotten quite used to the darkness over time."

"Oh." There was silence again for some time, and at the mention of the evil that cast a shadow over the once great wood, I thought of all that Thranduil had told me. "...I'm sorry. For your brother and mom, I mean."

For a minute, the elf prince didn't respond, and I thought I'd hit a nerve. But then he said "It was not by your hand that they...left, in one way or another. Why should you need to apologize?"

"I know that. I'm just trying to say that...I wish things could've been different for you."

Legolas sighed. "What is done is done. Nothing can be changed now."

oOo

Several days later, we stopped for a break during the day. At this point, we were not too far away from the Mountains of Mirkwood, which I made Legolas promise to show me sometime. Although neither of us had directly addressed the subject, we both knew that I had forgiven him enough to at least talk to him. Though I still made it perfectly clear that he wasn't completely off the hook just yet. I still didn't even know if I could trust him anymore.

I had brought with me my elvish blade from Lórien, as well as two extra knives strapped to a belt around my waist to defend myself with. Legolas had brought with him his signature bow and quiver of green and yellow arrows, though his twin knives used in the movies had been replaced with one long, single elven blade for this journey. Once we had finished setting up camp, we were planning to just sit and relax for awhile, but I got bored of sitting still, and felt the urge to go exploring. I stood from where I had previously been sitting on the ground and made to leave.

Legolas looked up at me. "And what are you up to?"

"I'm gonna go look around," I said, securing my three blades in their respective sheaths. "Maybe climb a tree or something. I dunno."

"Don't go too far," he warned, "and be on your guard. If anything goes wrong, just call for me."

"Got it." I called over my shoulder as I took off in a random direction.

The weather that day was particularly warm and muggy inside the forest. At times it felt like those freaking trees were suffocating me, and that's the biggest reason I ran off on my own. To get some fresh air. I walked through the trees, making sure to keep in a straight line so I didn't get lost. It was about noon, but for whatever reason the forest seemed to get darker as I walked on. Granted, I could still see well enough, but it was weird.

In any event, I was wandering around, looking for a really good climbing tree, when I saw a flicker of what looked like a yellowish-white light off in the distance. I stopped walking, turned my head towards the source of 'light,' and backtracked until I could see it again. It flickered every so often, and I frowned, not being able to identify it. Was it like...a torch or something? A fire? No, it looked too pale to be firelight. It almost looked like starlight, in a sense. And the longer I stared at it, the bigger it seemed to grow. Every now and again it would go away, but then reappear a second later. A warm breeze blew through the forest, making the leaves shake, and even causing the branches to creak and move.

All of a sudden, the light disappeared completely, like someone had put their hand over it and snuffed it out. "...The heck?" I whispered. It was only then that I realized I had been out here for longer than I should've been, and Legolas was probably gonna start freaking out if I didn't go back to camp soon. Tearing my vision away from where the light had been, I spun around quickly on my heel and took three steps forward before I ran into something. It hit me in the forehead, and across my cheek, shoulder, stomach, and thighs, like a net. I tried to pull away, but it was sticky, and my hair got stuck in it. "Ew! It's sticky! What is it?" I cried to no one in particular.

_Wait a minute. Where have I seen this all before?_

Then it hit me. In an instant, I replayed a memory in my mind. One of the scenes from _Return of the King,_ to be exact. "Frodo...the tunnel...and...Shelob..." I whispered the last word, afraid to do anything now.

Right at that moment, I heard the branches creak and groan again, as if a massive weight had been set upon them. _Oh no...sweet mother of Galadriel, please no..._I pulled myself away from the sticky stuff and turned around. "HOLY SPIDER!" I shouted.

The thing's head alone was about as wide as the length of my legs. It had eight eyes, each one pale yellow and sickly looking. I realized that was the 'light' that I'd seen. One of its eyes. Each eye was a bit bigger than my two fists put together, and the legs of it were horribly long, creaking, spindly things. The body itself was fat, scarred, and dirty, and the entire thing was so black and big it was sort of difficult to see the whole body at once. It gave off a disgusting odor, and a quick glance behind me told me that what I'd almost gotten stuck in was several thick strands of the spider's web, slimy and wet since they'd been freshly spun. They were blocking my path out of here.

We just stared at each other for a moment, though I in fear and the spider in confidence. Finally, it spoke, and its voice grated on my ears in a series of horrible creaks and hisses. "Well, what do we 'ave 'eeeeere? A pretty lil' giiiirl in the woodssssss all alone?" I never took my eyes off of the thing, but slowly reached for my sword as the spider also began to advance. "You'll make a lovelyyyyyy meeeeal, oh yesssss." Then, with a loud hiss, it lept forward, and I jumped out of the way just in time, whipping out my blade and bringing it down on the back of the spider's head. I backed up quickly as the spider swung its massive body around, hissing and sputtering as a thin sliver of black, oily blood oozed from its head. "Oooooh, it'sssssss got a biter, doesss it? Bitersssss, yessss, we 'ave sssseeeen them." The thing ran at me again, and this time I ran the opposite way, flailing my sword and getting a nick on its side again. "Elvesssss, the nasssty lil' thingssss, bring their bitersss and ssssslashersss and pokerssss through 'ere sometimessss."

"Well, the elves are better 'lil' things' than you, with your fat bodies and all!" I retorted.

At this, the spider got even more pissed. "Nassssty lil' wretch! Called me fat, ssshe did! Well, weeeee'll ssseee who winsss thissss round!" The thing lunged at me again, though this time it was much faster, and it managed to ram into me and knock me to the ground. I grunted as I fell, and managed to roll out of the way just it time as it let down its stinger from its abdomen.

With a yelp, I jumped up as the stinger hit the ground and then jumped again, landing on its back. I gripped my sword firmly and drove it into the spider's back, cutting it deep. The spider wailed in pain, but didn't die. Instead, it jerked back and threw me off again. This time, my sword flew out of my hand, and I tried to get to it as fast as I could. But just as I was trying to stand up, something nailed me hard in the middle of my back, pinning me to the ground. I twisted my head around just enough to see the spider standing overtop of me, using its leg to hold me still as it prepared its stinger. "That'ssssss better, oh yesssss. Sssssstay ssssstilllll, fressssssshh meeeat."

Reaching for one of my knives, I grinned. "Fresh meat? That's only appropriate for high school." Before the spider could react, I unsheathed my dagger and slammed it into the leg above me. The spider hissed in pain again, and the strength of its leg on my back lessened for one quick second. I used that second to pull myself out from under the black monster, and quickly got back to my feet. Grabbing my sword again, I took on a fighting stance, ready to face the thing again, though I could feel a nasty bruise forming on my back. Then I remembered what Legolas had told me to do if I got into trouble, so as the spider gathered its strength for its next move, I took a deep breath and screamed "LEGOLAS! GET OVER HERE!" as loud as I could.

"Oooooh, isssss there anotherrrr one, fressssssh meeeat?" the spider hissed.

I ignored its question. "Come at me, bro!" I shouted, spreading my arms wide.

The spider growled lowly and did so. I expected it to run at me again, but instead of doing that, it backed up and started running in circles from tree to tree, moving quite fast for a spider. Within moments, my enemy had almost completely sealed off our fighting ring with thick strands of its web. "Now it'sssss not getting awayyyy, isss it? No, not at allll," it said proudly. Then it quickly turned and scrambled up the nearest trunk, moving through the branches as I watched it warily. Finally, it stopped. "Well? What are youuuuu to do nowww, ssssilly girl?"

I frowned. "You wanna take this to the trees? You got it." I turned and started to run over to a tree directly across from where the spider sat, but I hadn't got halfway across the clearing when I heard movement from behind me. I turned around to see the spider flying through the air, mid-leap, and about ready to land directly on me. With a scream, I instinctively shot my hands up to cover my face, forgetting that my sword was still clutched tightly in one. It didn't hit the spider too deep, but I did manage to get a cut on its stomach. Even so, the weight of the thing crushed me, and I fell flat on my back, unable to move as the spider landed on top of me. The spider wailed in pain, and I also cried out as I felt the very tip of the stinger break skin in my leg.

Sadly, the spider didn't move off of me like I had expected. Instead it tried to reposition itself, not noticing that it had already poked me a bit with its stinger. All my breath had left me for the moment from being crushed under the giant thing, and I could've sworn that it cackled as I tried to desperately regain my breath. Just as he let out his stinger once more to really do me in, there was a twang from above, and a yellow-feathered arrow buried itself deep in the spider's back. The spider hissed and spun around just in time to see none other than Legolas drop from the trees above, second arrow aimed. His glare could've melted steel. "Get off of her, filth!"

The spider tensed. "Ohhhh, sssso there isss another? Wellll, I ssssshall have you for ssssupper, too, then!" With that, the spider began to charge Legolas, who swiftly dodged it and got another shot into the spider's side. He kept running, constantly pivoting and changing direction to confuse the spider as he shot arrows into the thing, one after the other.

The spider was losing, that was plain to see. But somehow he managed to get enough speed and strength halfway through the fight to ram into Legolas, knocking the rest of the arrows from his quiver and scattering them all over the ground. Legolas hissed back at the spider, then got to his feet, pulled out his sword, and swung up easily into the nearest tree. He then jumped down two seconds later onto the unsuspecting spider's head, getting a good sized cut into his back as I had done. The spider swung around at the pain, and Legolas lost his footing on the blood-slicked enemy, rolling off his back and onto the ground.

At this point, I had finally managed to get enough strength back to shakily stand up and grab the remaining dagger in my belt. Legolas was back on his feet, picking up arrows off of the ground and trying to shoot the spider in the belly, but by now I had figured out this spider's weak point. It was the one place we hadn't hit him. Slowly, so as not to be noticed, I worked my way up to just behind the spider, gathered my breath, and gave a shout. "Hey! Ugly!"

It worked. The spider turned around, and got even more upset at the fact that he hadn't killed me yet. Before he would say a word, I drew my arm back and threw the dagger straight into his face.

The spider let out an ear-piercing screech, and began to writhe around on the ground in pain. Legolas ran around and shot three arrows into his face at once also, and the spider let out a few more sputters and weak hisses before dropping to its side and lying still.

Legolas had a triumphant smirk on his face, but unfortunately that last act had left me sapped of all energy. My head nodded, and I let out a soft moan as I sunk to the ground. "Oh...oh gosh..."

Legolas' happy look was instantly wiped off of his face as he saw me. "Erin!" He knelt down and gripped my shoulders firmly to hold me upright. "What is wrong?"

"The...the spider," I mumbled, "he...stung me..ow.." I put a hand on my stomach, which was now churning and cramping. My one leg burned as well.

Obviously this was not good, because Legolas' eyes went wide. "It poisoned you? Oh, no...Erin, look at me! Look at me! Can you hear me? Erin!"

I wish I could've responded. I really did try to, but nothing came out. I opened my mouth, and then closed it again as I slumped forward into his chest, blacking out completely.


	11. Yay, More Elves!

**A/N: Did you all like the spider fighting scene in the last chapter? I hope so. I had fun writing the dialogue for the spider...I thought it'd sound kinda like Gollum/Smeagol in a way. :) By the way, I hide a TON of references and quotes from other movies, fandoms...I even sometimes reference other fanfics I've read. XD So as you read, make sure to watch out for them and let me know if you think you find any! Be prepared, this one might have a lot of Pirates of the Caribbean references in it. I'm listening to the soundtrack of "The Curse of the Black Pearl" right now! :D**

A Strange Twist of Fate: Chapter 11

I blinked slowly as I came back to my senses, feeling terribly groggy and nauseous as I tried to remember what had just happened. My vision was slightly blurred, and I...I could sort of remember traveling with Legolas through Mirkwood...a pale light...but other than that, nothing. I stared blankly at the sea of dark green above me and groaned, feeling too stiff to move anything.

Then I heard his voice. "Erin? Are you awake?"

I managed to lift my head up just enough to see Legolas sitting a couple of feet away. "No..." I said weakly, "...I just like to make noises in my sleep."

Legolas cracked a smile. "I will take that as a yes."

I tried to lift myself up, but couldn't. "Hey, a little help over here?" My elven companion immediately came over and helped me sit up a bit by letting me lean on the bag we put all our stuff in. "No, I wanted to sit up all the way."

Legolas just shook his head. "Not good for you. You'll make yourself sick."

I blinked, still confused. "What happened, dude? I...I don't remember much."

"We fought the spider. You were poisoned." He said it so casually, like he was announcing the weather or something.

"Oh yeah..." It all came back to me now. At that moment, I kinda freaked out, thinking I had almost died or something. "Wait, am I gonna be okay?"

"Yes, you should be fine," Legolas said. "The sting was not bad, it just got deep enough for you to lose your strength. And you were probably tired out as it was from fighting that thing."

"How long was I out?"

"Not terribly long. About an hour or so."

I looked at him. "You seem to know a lot about this."

Legolas shrugged. "All elves have probably been through it at least once. The spiders...they have been around for awhile, you know."

I nodded. "Makes sense. So...what am I supposed to do now?"

"I was going to make you something once you woke up. You will probably feel drowsy and sick to your stomach for awhile, until the poison fades away. If you need anything, just ask."

"Uhhh..." I awkwardly touched my stomach. "What if I need a bucket?"

Legolas seemed to understand my gesture well enough, because he gave me a sympathetic smile. "Do not worry, Erin. I will take care of it of it comes to that."

I sighed and slowly laid back down. "...You're forgiven."

"What?"

"You saved my life, Legolas. The least I could do is forgive you for what you did." I stared up at the treetops again.

"Oh...Thank you."

"You're welcome."

There was silence for awhile, until Legolas spoke again. "Erin, I need you to sit up now. Your medicine is ready."

I tensed, not even realizing that I'd started to doze off. "Mmkay." Legolas came over and helped me up, positioning me so that my head rested against his stomach. I could see out of the corner of my eye that he had a cup in his hand. "Is that it?"

"Yes."

"Is it gonna taste gross?"

"It should not be too bad. I tried to make it taste alright," he said. He held the cup up to my lips, and I saw that it was filled with some sort of light green liquid thing. How he made it, I'll never know. I just drank it like I was told. It actually tasted a lot better than some medicines that I'd taken back on Earth. Kind of...minty.

Once I was done, Legolas let me lay back down. "You should probably try and sleep while the medicine starts working. It will help you regain your strength."

"Okay. I got no problem with that." I closed my eyes and got as comfortable as I could on the ground. Within a minute, I was out again.

oOo

The rest of the day wasn't that bad, really. Legolas kept making the minty medicine stuff for me to take every so often, and I only threw up twice. Whatever he'd put into that stuff, it must've had some sort of elvish magic, because by the end of the day I was feeling a lot better. The only thing that was hard for me to shake off was the drowsiness. We both spent most of the day lounging around camp, talking and joking like we used to in Lórien. I loved it.

By nightfall, I was almost fully recovered, and Legolas said that we would probably be able to continue traveling tomorrow morning. Legolas offered to stand guard as I slept, but...I didn't really sleep. I had slept so much during the day that I really wasn't that tired. So I amused myself by throwing blades of grass into the fire and singing random snippets of songs to myself.

Eventually, Legolas walked over and sat down next to me, emerging from the shadows where he'd been watching for signs of trouble. "Are you planning on sleeping at all tonight?"

I sighed and threw in a fistful of green. "I wanted to, but I can't. I guess I'll just have to deal with being tired for a day tomorrow."

"I suppose so," he said.

"Where are we going first?"

"I was thinking we could take the pass through the mountains and go to Imladris first. Then we could pass through Lothlórien on the way back home." He paused, then said "Were you planning on staying in Lórien once we got there?"

I shook my head. "Can't. I made a deal with your father that I'd come back, and I...I'm a girl of my word," I said hesitantly, remembering my oath that I placed on Atontarya.

"And here I thought it would be peaceful in Mirkwood for awhile."

I lightly punched him in the arm. "Oh, shut up. You know you love me."

He laughed. "Well, you certainly are entertaining."

"You're lucky you got stuck with me. Otherwise you'd be bored out of your mind, without anyone to talk to."

He raised an eyebrow. "You may want to see a healer about that, Erin."

I cocked my head. "About what?"

"That terribly large ego you have. You might hurt others carrying that around." We both laughed.

"You know, now I'm kinda glad your dad made you come along. I've got a best friend to cause chaos with now!" I grinned.

Legolas rolled his eyes. "Please, do not drag me into anything I will regret. I do not want to start taking part in something that could likely get me killed."

I smirked, knowing that fate would give him an adventure soon enough. "Oh, come on. You're an elf! Don't elves like adventures?"

He shrugged. "Some do, some do not."

"What about you?"

"I love a good adventure, but not if it will more than likely get me killed."

"Makes sense," I smiled. "I'm kind of in the middle of one right now, I guess. This entire 'thrown-into-Middle-Earth-thing' is an adventure for me. And I love it. I'm gonna relish every minute of it. Take what I can...give nothing back..." I stared into the fire.

Legolas thought about that for a minute. "That is an..interesting motto."

I smiled. "Thanks. It's not mine, though. I just say it." We sat and talked about stuff like that for what seemed like ages, until we could see small slivers of sunlight peeking through the trees. I stopped mid-quote and looked up. "And then he was all like 'I've got a jar of – woah!"

Legolas noticed it, too. He looked at me, up at the light again, then back at me. We both burst out laughing. "We...we stayed up all night!" he exclaimed.

"And I'm not even tired," I said, giggling. "You?"

"Hardly," he grinned. We stood. "I suppose we should be going. Imladris is still quite far away."

oOo

The majority of the trip after that was pretty uneventful. We made pretty good time going through the mountain pass Legolas knew of, and were within sight on Rivendell on the fourth of July. I got more and more excited to see the realm of Elrond in real life with every passing second. When we finally arrived at the peak of the hill that overlooked the valley, I stopped Rick momentarily as my eyes went wide. "Woah."

The entire kingdom seemed to glow with warmth and happiness. Buildings of all types wove in and out of the trees, which were slender and abundant, brightly colored leaves ruffling in the wind. Many glistening waterfalls spilled down out of the mountains that surrounded the place, and the sunlight at the height of the afternoon hit everything absolutely perfectly. I quickly nudged Rick into action again, following Legolas down a rocky path that wound through the hills and into the sacred valley.

"Do you come here often?" I asked.

"Yes," Legolas called back from in front of me. "I visit Imladris quite often as a messenger from my father. It is sort of like...a second home to me."

I smiled. "It looks gorgeous."

"Wait until we get to Lord Elrond's home. There is an even better view from there, and so much to explore, too. You will love it."

"I already do," I said in awe. As we descended into the valley, I started spotting several elves wandering around their beloved home, singing in soft, deep tones. It was so relaxing and peaceful here, though it didn't beat the beauty of Lórien by a long shot. As we approached the archway leading to the Last Homely House, however, my smiled dimmed as I remember why we were here. Once we rode through the gates, Legolas hopped off of his horse. I followed suit, and my feet touched the ground just as I looked up to see an elf with dark brown hair and sea blue eyes like Elrond's walk up, a grin on his face.

He instantly caught Legolas in a hug, messing up his hair as he did so. _"Legolas! Mae govannen, nîn mellon."_

_ "Mae govannen Elrohir," _Legolas responded.

My eyes widened. So this was Elrohir! As if he heard my thoughts, the son of Elrond turned to me. "And you are? I do not believe we have met."

I smiled and shook his hand. "Erin. From Minas Tirith. I've heard a lot about you, Prince Elrohir."

"Please," he waved his hand with a grin. "The 'prince' is not necessary. Are you a friend of Legolas'?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Then you should know something." Elrohir bent down and whispered in my ear "He is not naturally blonde!"

"Hey!" Legolas lightly smacked Elrohir on the head. He then looked at me, smiling. "He is lying."

"Am not," Elrohir said, crossing his arms and laughing.

"You are so."

"Well, I don't know Legolas!" I added. "After all, your hair and eyebrows don't match, you know."

At this, we all started laughing. I liked Elrohir already. "Come," he said. "I shall take you to my father. He will be happy to see both of you, I am sure." The young heir called for a servant to come and take our horses, and then he led us inside. Once again, I was in awe of my surroundings. The House of Elrond was absolutely stunning, with gorgeous and intricate patterns in the ceilings, walls, and even the floors of the hallways and rooms. Dozens of candelabras were present in the elven mansion. Everything was mostly light grey and cream colored as far as architecture, but the decorations were rich colors like sapphire blues, ruby reds, and emerald greens. The whole place had a very regal air about it, but a welcoming presence as well. As Elrohir guided us around, we passed by the room where the Shards of Narsil were kept, and I smiled as I saw a brief flash of light reflected off of the broken blade through the doorway. Massive historical paintings adorned the walls, and sunlight spilled in everywhere, eliminating the need for any torches or candles that I saw to be lit.

Finally we arrived at a large set of dark brown wooden doors with impressive brass handles, which Elrohir opened as he stuck his head inside. "Ada? We have guests."

I heard the master of Rivendell's muffled voice from inside. "They may enter." Elrohir opened the door the rest of the way and allowed us inside. I thanked him with a nod.

What Legolas and I were now standing in seemed to be some kind of study or office. It was a large room, but cluttered with tons and tons of books and parchment papers. Funny, I expected Elrond to be more organized. A lush red carpet with gold trim covered the floor of the room, and several large, open windows allowed sunlight to shine down on the huge dark wooden desk on the wall opposite from us. Lord Elrond himself was seated in a large red chair at that desk, and as we stood in the center of the room, he rose and stepped around the chair to greet us. His wise dark blue eyes seemed like portals to an endless plethora of wisdom, and his dark brown hair hung straight and simple, save for two elvish plaits that hung over the fronts of his ears. He wore grand robes in varying shades of blue today, and as he looked at me I could see the interest in his eyes. He only glanced at me for a moment, though, and spoke to Legolas first, since he knew the young prince well. _"Legolas."_

_ "Hir Elrond," _Legolas said with a respectful bow and smile. _"Le suilon." _(Lord Elrond. I greet thee.)

_"Mae govannen, Thranduilion. Manen naly__ë__?" _the elven lord replied. (Well met, son of Thranduil. How are you?"

_"Im mae," _Legolas said. (I am well.) He then turned to me and switched to Common. "This is my companion, Lady Erin of Minas Tirith."

Elrond looked over at me, and I bowed as Legolas had done. "Hello."

"You are a friend of Legolas?" he asked.

I nodded. "Oh yeah. We've had quite an adventure together. I know him well. It's an honor to be in Rivendell, my lord. You have a beautiful home."

"Thank you," the elven lord responded. Then to both of us he posed a question. "Why have you come? I received no word that we were to have visitors from Mirkwood."

I glanced over at Legolas. We had talked about what our cover story would be, and after much discussion, came to a conclusion. "My father sent me to speak with you about our issues with Dol Guldur. Erin has been a guest of ours for awhile now, and wished to tag along so that she could see Imladris for the first time." My elf friend said smoothly.

Elrond looked at Legolas with a grim expression. "Is the Shadow still causing trouble for your realm?"

"It is," said Legolas sadly. "Forgive my father for sending no word, but we thought it too urgent of a matter to wait."

"There is nothing to forgive, Legolas. If your father is truly desperate, I will try my best to aid him in protecting your people."

"Excellent. Is it possible for us to stay for a few days to rest and recover? It has been a long journey for us."

Elrond smiled warmly. "Of course. You and Lady Erin may stay here for as long as you need."

"Thanks," I said, feeling awkward by just standing there. "We'll probably only need about three days or so to hang out." I almost burst out laughing as Elrond's Eyebrows of Doom raised dramatically at my weird way of talking. Elrond had a servant come get us and take us to our rooms, saying that he would schedule a time to talk with Legolas later that evening. Our rooms were right next to each other, but I followed Legolas into his anyway and sighed as I shut the door.

He looked up at me curiously from where he was seated on the bed, stretching. "What is wrong?"

"It just bothers me, knowing that our mission involves...well, you know what. I'd be able to enjoy Rivendell a lot better if I didn't have to steal stuff," I said quietly.

Legolas nodded in understanding. "Again, I apologize. I wish it did not have to be this way, either. But it is our only hope of saving Mirkwood." I watched as he looked away, the sorrow for his tainted homeland evident in his eyes.

I threw my hands into the air in exasperation, taking a few steps forward and leaning up against a wall. "And anyway, this is gonna be harder than it sounded! I have no idea where the object in question might be! It's not like I can go asking around for the thing, anyway. That would be dumb."

"Yes, yes, that is true..." Legolas thought about my predicament for awhile.

Once the silence had stretched for too long, I decided to break it. "You did good back there."

"Doing what?"

I shrugged. "I dunno...being all prince-y and stuff. It kinda surprised me, I guess."

He smiled a bit and raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

I grinned back. "Because I thought you'd mess the story up. You never know when an elf is gonna do something incredibly stupid."

He rolled his eyes. "Excuse me, but I am not the one who got herself into a brawl with a Great Spider."

I narrowed my eyes, playing along. "Hey! It wasn't my fault!...entirely!" We both laughed. "I don't know. I guess I'll figure something out. You're always welcome to help, of course."

"You know I would help you, Erin. Just ask if you need anything."

I smiled. "I will. Thanks, Legolas." With that in mind, I left his room and went back to my own. I quickly found the bathroom, figured out how theirs worked (after a short trial and error period), and came out an hour later, freshly washed and wrapped in a clean towel. Too tired to do anything else, I slipped back into my undergarments, draped my towel over top of my bare body, and crawled under the white sheets of my bed, curling up for a catnap. I was out within ten minutes.


	12. Erin's Diabolical Plan

**A/N: Hello everyone! ^^ Wow, this story's gotten a lot more reviews and followers than I thought it would! I do apologize for not updating for awhile, but I just spent an entire week preparing for my school's final exams. On the bright side, I'm now officially on summer vacation, which means I have more free time to write! :D Yay! And I also got A's on all of my finals this semester! Double yay! :D :D Okay, I'll shut up about life now. XD Enjoy this update! And a big thank you to all who have reviewed! :) I love you guys!**

A Strange Twist of Fate: Chapter Twelve

I heard someone pounding on my door and calling my name. "Erin! Erin, answer me!" Frick. It was Legolas.

I groaned and blinked, slowly waking up. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to speak with you. Are you awake yet?"

"Nnnngh...yes," I mumbled, slowly sitting up. "Come in." Right as he opened the door, though, I shivered and looked down, suddenly remembering that I was wearing nothing but a Middle-Earth-esque bra and underwear, and the bra was nothing more than a thick piece of fabric wrapped around my chest. "WAIT! NO NO NO NO CLOSE THE DOOR!"

Too late. Legolas had already stepped inside and locked the door behind him. At my frantic cries, he turned around. "What-" As soon as he saw me, he straightened and his ears turned a dark shade of pink, along with his cheeks. "Oh Valar! Erin, I am so sorry, I-"

"Just get out!" I said as I tried desperately to pull the blankets back up over my shoulders. However, my sheets had decided that it was a good time to get tangled up in my legs, and I was having trouble pulling them back up.

"Right. Sorry!" Legolas spun back around and tried to get out, but of course he couldn't get the door open right away. I was sitting there in my bed, half-naked and flailing around like a crazy person, while he kept fumbling with the door's lock with apologies flying out of his mouth at breakneck speed.

Somehow my flailing eventually got me too close to the edge of the bed, and without knowing it I slid right off, pulling my sheets and my towel with me. "GAH!" I hit the floor with a thump, and was about to stand up when I realized it was probably best to stay on the floor now that I was underneath my blankets.

"Erin?" Legolas asked warily. "Are you alright?"

"Eeyup," I said to the floor. "Just go. And hurry up, ok? This floor's cold."

"As you wish." I waited until I was sure he had left before standing up again. Only when I happened to see my own face in a vanity mirror that was in my room did I notice how red my own face was. I shuddered as I walked over to my wardrobe to find something to wear.

"That was so awkward."

oOo

Several minutes later, I stepped out of my room dressed in a pale summer green gown with what apparently was the elves' version of spaghetti straps and neckline trim in white. The dress itself was very plain from a distance, but as you got closer you could make out a very fine leaf pattern woven into the green fabric. My hair hung straight and simple, and I wore no shoes.

Legolas was waiting for me, leaning up against the wall across from my door. When he saw me, the first thing he did was run up and start freaking out. "Erin, _goheno nin. _I never intended to-" (Forgive me.)

"It's okay, Legolas," I said. "I know it was an accident. If anything it's my fault for telling you to come in."

"But Erin, I-"

"Let's just forget that whole thing ever happened, okay?" I cut him off again. "That way nothing will be awkward anymore."

He looked at me for a moment, like he was trying to figure me out or something. Finally, he just shook his head and smiled. "All right."

"Great!" I grinned back, and we started off down the hallway. He was dressed in a simple solid red tunic with long, fitted sleeves, white pants, and his favorite dark brown boots. Of course, he wore his silver necklace as well. "So...what's the plan for today?"

"I am to have a meeting with Lord Elrond tonight, so you should have plenty of free time then."

"Awesome. Just one problem." I pulled him over to the side of the hallway and hissed into his ear "How am I supposed to know where to look for this thing? I don't even know what it looks like?"

To my surprise, Legolas just shrugged. "I was thinking we could spend the morning and afternoon taking a tour of the Last Homely House to give you ideas," he whispered back. "Perhaps we could get Elrohir or Elladan to guide us. I am sure they would be willing to show you around."

I thought about that. "...Huh. That's not a bad idea, actually. Better than anything I would've come up with, anyway. Let's do it."

He nodded. "Right." The two of us wandered around Elrond's place for awhile until we came across the twins sparring with each other in one of the gardens. They didn't see us approach at first, so Legolas got their attention by throwing a fruit he'd picked up from the kitchen at them. It was funny to see one of them (I think it was Elrohir) get hit in the head with the core of a pear.

While I was laughing in the corner, Legolas went up to them and asked if they'd be kind enough to show me around. They said yes, and then Elrohir brought Elladan over to meet me. Elladan seemed a bit more uptight than his brother, but they both shared the same sense of childish humor. I wanted Legolas to come with us, but he said no.

"Why not?" I pouted. "Don't you love me?"

He laughed. "My apologies Erin, but I have my own things to do. I do have friends here, you know."

I gasped in fake shock. "Friends? Oh my gosh, Legolas actually had friends besides us, guys." I looked at the twins, mouth agape.

Elladan frowned. "Who said I was friends with him? I only talk to him because I have to." We all laughed, and I turned to Legolas again.

"Fine. Just don't get beat up by elves that are bigger than you." I smirked.

"I promise to stay out of trouble, Erin," he smiled. "Though I doubt the same will go for you three." He laughed and then walked off, leaving me in the hands of Elrond's sons.

Elrohir turned to me and flamboyantly bowed. "Shall we begin our tour, madam?"

I laughed. "We shall indeed."

The boys were awesome tour guides. They made the day entertaining for me by constantly telling stories about stuff they'd done to this person or that vase in their younger years as elflings, showed me spots where they'd fallen and/or broken something (or someone)...the whole nine yards. They let me see the inside of every room, and even explore them to a certain point. I noticed one thing about a certain room in particular, though.

When we arrived at Elrond's bedroom, Elladan stopped and looked at me seriously. "Now Erin, we will show you inside our father's chambers, but you are not to touch anything. I do not want to even think about the punishments he would conjure up if anything was found out of place."

"He's not in there now?" I asked.

Elrohir shook his head. "Not likely. He typically is in either the library, the gardens, or his study for the majority of the day."

"Ah." I nodded, and without any further delay Elladan opened the doors.

Now to describe it. Let's just say...it was pretty obvious that this was Elrond's room. It was one of the biggest rooms I'd seen that day, and was absolutely littered with books, papers, artifacts...whatever you can think of. Candles flickered on the walls, though they weren't really needed. The room had a grand open balcony with no doors, just thick drapes used to block out the wind and rain. Currently they were open, and tons of sunlight poured into the room, some of it glinting off of various metal things in the room. Everything was made of very pale-colored wood and even some stone, and the decorations were several variations of deep, rich colors, particularly blues and browns. Lots of the woodwork had been chiseled to make it look like trees and statues of elven heroes were growing out of the walls. It sort of reminded me of Mirkwood, but much more...stately and proper.

I stepped into the giant chamber of the elven lord, admiring the gorgeous carpentry and lavish decorations. It was all beautiful, but the bed was my favorite piece. The bed was low to the ground, and the headboard was made of wood that had been absolutely covered with small shards of colored glass to depict a scene of some sort. When I looked at it a bit longer, I realized it was an image of the Grey Havens, with a single ship sailing off to Valinor. It was absolutely breathtaking, and reminded me of the departure scene in _Return of the King _when Frodo and the others sailed off into the sunset. The colors were spot-on, the accuracy was amazing...gosh, the whole thing deserved to be put in a museum. The glass sparkled in the sunlight, and I couldn't help but get even closer to the thing so that I was nearly sitting on the bed.

Elrohir came up behind me and chuckled. "Do you like it?"

I looked back over my shoulder at him, wide-eyed. "Like it? Oh my word...this is seriously amazing. Who did this?"

"We did," Elladan said, standing beside his brother. "It was a birthday gift to our Ada many centuries ago."

"Dude..." I looked back at it in awe. "This is so cool! Can you make me something like this?"

They both grinned. "We will see. If we can find enough glass again, that is."

"Why'd you pick the Grey Havens to do as a scene?"

Elrohir sighed, the sparkle in his eye fading a bit. "Well...we made it for him because our mother, Celebrian, sailed off into the West some time ago. Ada was so hurt by her departure...so we thought this might lessen the pain. That way she is, in a sense, always here with him." Elrohir pointed to the ship. "That is her ship."

"Awww," I said quietly. "That's so sad...but very sweet of you guys to do." I looked back at it, gently running the tips of my fingers over the collaged scenery. That was when I noticed something I hadn't noticed before.

The pieces of glass were not touching each other on the headboard. They were evenly spaced all the way across the wooden canvas in what looked like...elvish cement...or something. However, as I looked at the beautiful piece of artwork, I noticed that if you stood at just the right angle and looked at one particular spot in the water, you could see a small crack in the mortar-like filling. As I stared at the crack longer, I realized it continued in almost a perfect circle around a palm-sized group of glass pieces. It was so tiny, that I was surprised that even I could see it. And to me it seemed like a perfect place to hide a certain something that Elrond possessed.

I was tempted to casually ask the boys what it was, but quickly decided against it. If I asked them what that crack was and they suddenly found their father's precious ring stolen the next day, it would be pretty blatantly obvious who had taken it. So I stepped back, tried my best to memorize where it started on the headboard, then moved on to marvel at something else. Eventually we left Elrond's room altogether.

As we continued our trek through the elven sanctuary, I kept my eyes peeled for other suspicious looking places to hide a ring in, but nothing else stuck out to me like that crack in the headboard had. It was on my mind all afternoon. In fact, once the boys dropped me back off at my room, I slipped into Legolas' after they were gone and sat on his bed for almost an hour waiting for him to get back.

When I finally did hear him talking loudly with someone in Elvish outside his door, I grinned and crawled under his bed, making sure the sheets on it touched the floor so he wouldn't see me. I waited until he sat down on his bed, adjusted my position, and then shot my hands out and grabbed his ankles without warning.

"AH!" he screamed, and I let go as he jumped up from his bed. I laid down there, laughing as he pressed himself to his floor and peered under the sheets. "Erin? What in Valar's name are you doing under here?"

"Scaring the life out of you," I giggled as I crawled out.

"Well, you succeeded," he said, blinking as he helped me up. "I thought I was going to be attacked!"

I smiled at him. "Don't worry. I doubt an Orc could get in here and hide under your bed that well."

He smiled back, the initial shock now worn off. "I suppose not. But still...is that really why you are in my room?" Before I could answer, he quickly spun around and glared at me. "You were not going through my things, were you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, come on. You really think I'd do that for no reason?"

"Yes."

"Well, I wasn't. Actually, I came to tell you something." I stepped closer to him, becoming serious. "I think I know where Aearya is now."

His eyes widened. "You do? Where?"

"In Elrond's bedroom. Hidden inside the frame of his bed."

At this, his brow furrowed. "What?"

"I know!" I exclaimed. "It's genius! No one would ever think to look there! Anyway, are you still planning on meeting with him tonight?"

Legolas nodded. "Yes, as far as I know."

"Sweet. What time?"

"Directly after supper. He invited us to eat with him."

I nodded, looking away and already forming a plan in my head. "And how long do you think this meeting will take?"

"Not long. An hour at most."

"That should be plenty of time."

"You have a plan?" he asked.

"Yeah." I looked back at him. "I'm pretty sure I remember how to get to his room from here. Once dinner's over, I'll just sneak off to his room, swipe the ring, and get out. Simple."

Legolas frowned. "What about guards?"

"From what I saw today, there aren't any directly guarding that hallway or anything. Everyone's stationed outside."

Legolas also thought about the plan for a minute, then nodded. "As long as you are sure it will work."

I grinned. "Of course it'll work. I'll make sure of that."

**A/N: Woo! The end of another chapter! Will Erin's plan work? Is that actually where the Ring of Water is hidden? And where the fudge is Arwen during all this? Find out in the next chapter! :) Until then, I hope you all have an awesomesauce day!**

**~Erin**

**P.S. So...you can put images with your stories now? Cool. :3 In case you guys didn't notice, the cover for this story is a picture of the actual Elven Element Bands. I don't know how well you guys can see them in the thumbnail, but that's what they look like in real life, in case you guys were curious. :D**


	13. Channeling Her Inner Jack Sparrow

A Strange Twist of Fate: Chapter Thirteen

I sat down in the large dining chair at Elrond's table that had been set for me. I was seated between Legolas and an empty chair which I hoped would be occupied withing the next couple of minutes. Elrond himself sat at the head of the table, two chairs away from me, and the twins sat across the table from us. "Hello, Erin," they greeted warmly.

I smiled. "Hey guys!"

Elrond then spoke. "Erin, I understand you have been keeping my sons company throughout the day."

I laughed lightly. "I think it's the other way around! They've been entertaining me more than I have them! Either way, it was a fun afternoon."

He nodded. "I trust it to be so."

All of a sudden, an elf-maiden came rushing into the room, clearly out of breath. _"Goheno nin, Ada," _she said. (Forgive me, father.) She sat down in the empty chair between me and her father, and I realized instantly that this was Arwen. Her hair, surprisingly, was not black, but just a very, _very _dark brown. She wore a midnight blue dress with silver trim that hugged her waist and then gracefully flowed down from her hips, and her signature silver Evenstar pendant hung from her neck. She looked just like her character in the movies, too.

Elrond smiled down at his daughter. "You are forgiven, my child." He then gestured to me. "Arwen, this is Lady Erin of Minas Tirith. She is a friend of Lord Legolas, and had been permitted to stay with us for a few days with him."

Arwen turned and smiled at me, her dark blue eyes shining. "Hello, Lady Erin. It is a pleasure to meet you."

I nodded my head to her. "And the same to you, my Lady Arwen. I have heard nothing but good things about you from your brothers today."

She laughed a bit at this. "Oh, really? Today must be one of their good days, then." I laughed, too, and then several servants brought out food for us to eat. It was some strange elvish dish. I can't remember what Arwen told me it was, but it was some sort of soup. It kind of tasted similar to chicken corn soup, in a way.

The six of us mingled and talked about the day's events during dinner, laughing and enjoying the beautiful weather since Elrond had us eat outside on one of many balconies he had in his home. They also had red wine, but I politely declined it and asked for water when some elves brought it out.

Arwen frowned slightly as the servant with my wine walked off. "Do you not drink wine, Erin?"

I shook my head. "Nope. I made a promise to myself a couple years ago that I wouldn't drink a drop of alcohol. I've heard a lot about what it does to you, and I decided it's not worth taking the chance of getting addicted to it, if you know what I mean." Right at that moment, the same servant came out with a tall, cool glass of water for me. "I don't need it to be happy, anyways. I've got plenty of other things for that." I smiled at her and took a drink.

Arwen thought about that for a minute, then nodded. "I suppose that makes sense. That is quite an honorable trait, Erin."

"Thanks."

We continuously talked about other random stuff throughout the night, but never once did anyone mention me going into Elrond's room. Personally, I was glad for that. I wanted to stay as unsuspicious as possible. The meal went on for a few hours, actually. A lot longer than I had expected. I'll admit, I started to get paranoid that Elrond would cut back on the meeting time with Legolas, or just completely postpone it altogether. But my fears were dashed when the lord of Rivendell finally stood up and said "Well, I believe it has gotten much later in the evening than I planned it to be. As much as I have enjoyed getting to spend time with you all, Legolas and I have important things to discuss. The feast will have to be adjourned for tonight."

Although Elrohir and Elladan let out synchronized groans of protest at this, the servants came out and cleaned up our plates and food scraps anyway. Legolas got up and followed after Elrond to wherever their private meeting would be, but not before shooting one last glance at me over his shoulder. "Good luck!" he mouthed to me. I gave him a hopeful smile back. Then I glanced around, praying nobody had caught that.

I did help the servants carry a couple of plates and stuff back into the kitchen to be washed, since I didn't want them to think I was a snot or anything. I felt bad that they had to do this three (or more) times a day, too. Eventually I made my way back up to my room with Arwen, saying goodbye to the elven princess before slipping through my door. I then pressed my ear flat against the door and listened until I was absolutely, positively, two hundred percent sure that she was completely and absolutely gone. Only then did I silently open my door and stick my head out into the hallway. I looked both ways twice, then took a tentative step out. Then another. Then another. Then I realized I probably looked really stupid taking awkwardly sneaky steps like that, so I straightened up, took a deep breath, and seriously started my adventure by casually strolling down the hallway. "Okay, Erin. Find your inner Jack Sparrow. He's good at this kind of stuff."

I took off in what I hoped to be the direction that Elrond's bedroom was in, but after about fifteen minutes or so of wandering around, I got completely lost. I was right outside the library doors in the darkness of the hallways when I stopped and took another deep breath. "Think. When the boys took you up to his room, it was on the...third floor? Yes, third. To the stairs!" I whisper-shouted, again looking around to make sure no one had heard me.

From there it was a silent sprint through the enormous place until I finally found a staircase that led up a floor. Glancing outside, I realized I still wasn't up high enough. "Second floor. I want third. Off we go!" Once again I started half running, half walking through the hallways until I found another staircase leading up. I took those stairs, and then found myself in a hallway with nearly identical sets of twin wooden white doors on both sides of the hallway. "Great. Just excellent!" I tossed my hands in the air dramatically, and then continued on my way.

The major problem here was that I couldn't remember which doors were Elrond's. So what did I do? I decided to go with the 'trial-and-error' method. I walked up to the first set of doors and slid them open just a crack, almost jumping in paranoia when I say Elrohir (Elladan?) sprawled out on a large bed, sleeping peacefully. Wrong door. I moved across the hall to the next set and opened that. Nope. That was Arwen's room (which she wasn't in, I noticed). I spun on my heels and silently opened the next door, just about screaming when I saw who was inside. There was the other twin, but this one was wide awake and hunched over his desk, reading something. Most likely Elladan. Thanking God that he hadn't noticed me, I closed his door without a sound and moved on to the next set next to Arwen's room, which I sighed in relief when I saw the familiar sights of Elrond's messy room.

I slipped in without any noise, but let out a breath of frustration again once I realized that shutting the door meant I had no light other than the dull moonlight to help me. And of course, it had to be cloudy tonight. "Suck it up, Erin. You've gotta get this done." I stayed perfectly still until my eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, and I caught the glint of the moonlight off of the glass headboard. Smiling, I maneuvered around the various piles of books and other things until I was in the exact same spot I had been in earlier that day. Trouble was, I could barely see the crack in the headboard earlier that day. There was no way I was gonna see it now without some light. "Crap."

I looked around for anything that would help me out, but all that I found were a bunch of unlighted candles, all of which were very high up on the walls. Then my eyes caught something that they hadn't seen before. There were two torches flickering on the outside wall of his room, placed there to light up the balcony. I grinned. "Oh, heck yeah!" Just what I needed. I carefully made my way back across the room and over to the edge of where shadow met moonlight. Then I realized that as soon as I stepped outside I would be vulnerable to being seen by elven guards. Cursing my bad luck in my head, I stood there for a minute, deciding what to do. Finally, I sunk to the ground, pressed myself as flat to the balcony floor as I could go, and slid on my stomach across the smooth stone floor until I was outside, hidden underneath a table and chair set he had out there.

At this point, I was freaking out. I could see three different elvish guards from where I was crouched under Elrond's table. Granted, they weren't like, the next room over or anything, but they were still too close for my liking. The longer I studied my environment, though, I realized that from the positions they were standing in, only one of them was likely to see one of the torches move off the the wall and get carried inside. And that was only because he was facing the balcony the most. The other two were mostly parallel to where I was hiding.

Then a brilliant idea hit me. Before anything had the chance to go wrong, I slithered back inside Elrond's room and ran to what I figured was his closet. I opened the doors, grabbed the smallest, but most baggy robe I could find, and threw it on over my other clothes. I also grabbed one of many circlets that were hanging from pegs on the inside walls, and after letting all my hair out so that it hung as long as it could go, fitted it to my head. Looking back at the balcony, I smiled when I confirmed that if I walked and turned a certain way, the guard would never see my face, and in the darkness of the night, would likely mistake me for Elrond himself. Though it did feel kinda awkward wearing an old elf's clothes.

I stood still in the room for a moment, calming myself, then slowly made my way out onto the balcony, making sure to keep my face turned away from the guard, but not in an obvious way. My hands were trembling at I reached up to lift the torch from its torch...holder...thing...in the wall, and I swear I had a mini-heart attack when the huge sleeve fell away slightly, revealing my bare, slender forearm. I retrieved the torch and walked back into the room, trying to look as regal and important as possible. Obviously the guard had seen me, but whether or not he'd suspected me of anything was the real question.

As soon as I was back in the safety of the shadows, my pace quickened as I walked back through the mess to the corner of the bed. I'm lucky I didn't catch anything on fire with the torch and how much flammable crap he had in his room. I carefully knelt down my the bed's headboard and moved the light of the torch back and forth over it, trying to find the freaking crack. I knew I probably had less than twenty minutes left to get the ring and get out before Elrond came back, so I worked quickly.

Finally, I spotted it. "Yes!" I switched the torch to my left hand, and used my right to get a hold of one of the shards of glass to pull the hidden door open. After three unsuccessful tries, I got a good enough grip that the small opening popped off entirely, landing on the pillow beneath it. I looked inside, and smiled at what I saw.

All the opening had revealed was a hollowed out little tunnel that extended completely through the stuff used to hold the glass in place and even cut into the wooden board behind it. The small tunnel was no deeper than the length of my thumb, but inside it sat a small silver band, similar to the two that I had seen Thranduil hold. The difference was that this one had a deep, royal blue enameling around it, and the silver design was like a series of widely spaced Xs. Between some of them there was a separate silver carving that looked like a curvy backwards S. I'm sure it was meant to represent the ocean in some way.

Whatever the design, it was obvious that this was Aearya, the Ring of Water. Without any hesitation, I plucked the long-hidden piece of jewelry from its hiding spot, quickly replaced the cover correctly, then got back into Elrond mode and slowly snuck outside again, replacing the torch. I never lessened my grip on the ring, fearing that at any moment someone was gonna jump out and yell at me for stealing. Once I was back in the privacy of Elrond's dark room, I removed the robe and circlet and replaced them in his closet exactly as they had been. Or...close to it, at least. Once I did one last check to make sure everything was in order, I smiled to myself, gave the ring a squeeze, and headed back out into the Last Homely House's hallways.

I made it back to my room in about ten minutes without any complications, and not five minutes after I had sat down on my own bed, Legolas came back. I let him in, and he looked at me seriously, concerned. "Did it work?"

I put up a fake look of disappointment for a second, then smiled as his face fell, opening my hand and revealing our treasured ring. "You bet it did!"

oOo

Legolas and I were both slightly on edge the next day. We planned to leave that afternoon, and were desperately hoping that Elrond hadn't somehow found out that his ring had gone missing. If he even knew it was gone, we'd never get out of Rivendell unsuspected.

God must've really loved us both that day (despite the fact that we stole), because nothing ever came up in our final hours at Rivendell. We said our goodbyes, packed up, and were easily ready to go after one final lunch with Elrond and his kids.

The small family of elves came to see us off at the gates of the elven realm, where I had first ridden in and met Elrohir not three days ago. Whatever Legolas and Elrond had wanted to settle had been taken care of, and of course I had gotten done what I needed to do. Elrond did his thing where he gave a formal speech about wishing us good luck and all that, we have our last hugs to Arwen and the twins, and just like that, we were back on the road.

We didn't really say that much as we rode, because we were both really eager to get the heck out of there before Elrond realized that he'd been robbed. In fact, it wasn't until we set up camp that night that I seriously talked to Legolas.

I slid off of Rick and laid out my blanket that I would sleep on for the night, stretching my sore muscles. "Dude...that was intense."

Legolas raised an eyebrow. "'Intense?'"

"Yeah," I sighed. "Like...I was really freaked out, getting Aearya and running away and all that."

"You never did tell me how your little adventure went," he smiled. "Would you like to?"

I looked over at him from where I'd been stargazing. "You want to hear it?"

"Of course, Erin." Legolas also sat down on his little makeshift bed.

"'Kay." I gave him a short little recap of my epic mission to retrieve the Ring of Water. When I was done, I actually laughed. "It seems silly to admit this now, but...I felt so awesome, pulling off something so sneaky like that."

He laughed with me. "Well, you got it done. That is what matters. Though you seemed to make the actual task much more entertaining and dramatic than it needed to be. I almost wish I could have been there watching you."

I smiled. "Oh yeah, I meant to ask you! How did it go with Elrond? Did you even talk about anything important?"

He leaned back on his hands and shrugged. "In a way, yes. Well, you already know that we in Mirkwood need help resisting Dol Guldur's power." I nodded. "I was just asking him if he would be willing to send a small band of his warriors to fight with us when we retaliate against the dark fortress. Once you and I get back with the rings, of course."

"Right, right," I said. My gaze flicked back to the starry sky. "So...you didn't really have to lie to him, did you?"

"No. Either way, we could use the help."

There was silence for a bit, before I looked over at Legolas again. He was also looking up, but instead of staring at the stars in wonder, I saw sadness reflected in his eyes. "...You're worried, aren't you?"

Startled by the blunt question, he blinked and looked at me. "What do you mean?"

"You're worried that your people won't survive." It was more of a statement than a question that time.

The young prince sighed. "Yes. I am...terribly. Especially for my father." He broke eye contact. "Seeing as he is the last family member I have, I feel like...like it is all up to me to protect him. And I just..." he trailed off. "...I do not know if I can do that."

I frowned, pitying him. I watched him for a moment longer as he studied the ground before crawling over and wrapping my arms around him in a big hug.

Legolas stiffened for a second. "What are you doing?"

"Hug me back," I said, ignoring his question.

He relaxed and returned the embrace. When I pulled away and moved back to my seat, he looked at me oddly. "Erin, why did you?..."

"You looked like you needed it," I said simply.

"Oh."

I smiled at my friend and laid down on the ground again, pulling a blanket overtop of myself. "Good night, Legolas."

"Good night, Erin." I heard shuffling behind me, and figured he was laying down, too. "...and thank you."

"No problem."


	14. Avalanche!

A Strange Twist of Fate: Chapter Fourteen

Legolas and I had been traveling for several days now. He had decided to head south from Rivendell and take a shortcut through the mountains, very much like how the Fellowship did. We weren't going through Moria, of course, but apparently there was another trail just north of it that led through the mountains and would put us close to Lórien when we came out on the other side. I had trusted Legolas completely that he was leading us through a safe and secure pathway that wouldn't take long to get through, but...ugh.

First off, the pathway we were taking was a hidden one, which meant it wasn't often used, which meant that it was kinda...run-down and creepy looking. The trail was narrow, and the going was a lot slower than what I would've liked. Our horses picked their way over every little pebble that littered the ground, and I stayed close behind Legolas, constantly looking up at the steep mountains on either side of us nervously. Often I caught myself glancing behind me, too, and fidgeting with the Ring of Water, which was kept on a silver chain that hung around my neck. Trees of any kind were scarce, and other than that, the only life around us was an odd type of bush that looked like it was going to shrivel up and disintegrate any second now.

After about three of four days of mind-numbing traveling through the bleak territory, we came around a bend in the path which put us on a section of the trail that was much wider than anything we had been on so far, so we stopped there to make our camp. As Legolas got our tiny fire going, I stood by Rick's side, gazing out into the darkness of the night that surrounded us. Eventually I turned back around to face him. "I don't like it."

"What's wrong now?"

"Something's just...off. I feel like we're being followed." I glanced over my shoulder once more. "Don't you sense anything?

Legolas looked around as well. "Yes, I do." He looked my right in the eyes. "We're being followed," he whispered.

I nodded. "What are we gonna do?"

"We will just have to press on, and hope for the best." He stood up, but didn't get out his things from his pack. "I will keep watch tonight. You get some rest."

I frowned. "You sure you're okay by yourself?"

"I will be fine, Erin." He offered me a reassuring smile. "Just go to sleep. We can trade off in awhile, if you'd like."

"That'd be nice." I stretched out on my bedding and got as comfortable as I could on the rocky ground.

"...Erin?"

"Yeah?"

"No matter what happens," Legolas whispered, "keep it safe."

"Got it," I whispered back. It took me awhile to fall asleep, though, since I was scared about whatever was following us. So I ended up laying on my side and watching Legolas as he walked in circles around the camp, until my eyelids drooped shut on their own.

oOo

"Erin! Orcs!"

As soon as the shout reached my ears, I was up. I had barely enough time to get on my feet before I heard the snarls of Sauron's servants coming up behind me. I spun around and whipped out my sword just in time to catch one across the stomach, sending him down. Off to the side, I saw Legolas fighting with his own weapons, and he seemed fine, so I concentrated on defending myself for the time being. My body moved quickly as I sliced, punched, and kicked at whatever came my way. It wasn't a terribly hard task, but it took forever. Orcs were coming at us, and it seemed like whenever I killed one, two more popped up in its place. My clothes were soon stained with their oily black blood.

After several minutes of fighting, I bumped into Legolas' back, and from there we worked as a team, easily taking out Orcs together. With both of us fighting fiercely, we started taking them out twice as fast as before, and it wasn't long before their numbers finally started to dwindle. I shot a smile towards Legolas when I got the chance. "We've almost got them! There aren't that many left!"

But Legolas wasn't paying attention. He was too busy trying to kill the rest of our enemies. I spun back around and did the same. However, now I noticed that not too many of them were even attacking us anymore. They were just kind of running in circles around us, and shouting things at each other. I frowned, confused. What was going on?

I had no idea how to speak Orcish, but it seemed like they were planning something. "Legolas!" I shouted. "They're gonna pull something! Be careful!"

This time, he responded. "Same to you!" We stopped fighting altogether for a moment, and I spun around to look at him. He had a small cut on his cheek, but other than that he seemed perfectly fine. Just tired. "Are you doing okay?" he asked me.

I nodded, catching my breath. "Yeah. You?"

"I am fine." His expression suddenly changed and his gaze flicked to something else. "Erin, behind you!"

My eyes widened in fear, and I quickly spun around, just barely managing to connect blades with a particularly big Orc that had tried to behead me. However, he was much stronger than I, so within seconds I had to give in and pull my blade back. I stepped off to the side, drawing him away from Legolas, who had also gotten himself locked into a one-on-one battle. I tried attacking the thing and running it straight through, but the Orc moved out of the way and rammed me in the side with his elbow. I grunted, then quickly spun back around and swung my blade at his chest, but he dodged that too. I advanced on him, forcing him to back up as I prepared to attack him again.

Suddenly, he turned around and threw his fist in the air. I stopped, confused, then covered my ears in agony as every Orc in the area emitted a terrifying screech. Turning around, I looked over at Legolas, who had a grimace on his face, but was still trying to kill his opponent. The Orcs kept on screaming, and I decided it was probably just supposed to be a distraction or something. Trying my best to ignore them, I ran towards Legolas, but just before I could reach him the Orc that had fought me earlier stepped in front of me, pushing me back. And it wasn't a gentle push, either.

I lost my footing and fell to the ground, landing on my back. I gripped my sword tightly, expecting him to swing at me, but he didn't. He just stood above me for a few second, unmoving, an evil smirk on his face. I heard Legolas shout for me, probably because he'd seen me fall. A second later, his blade shot through the Orc, stabbing him straight through the back. Legolas reached down from where he'd attacked the Orc from behind and helped me up. "Are you alright?"

I nodded. "I'm okay. What's going on - LEGOLAS!" All of a sudden, two more big, burly Orcs appeared out of nowhere and grabbed his arms, trying to drag him away from me. I got it now – they were trying to separate us. But why? Whatever. I gripped my blade tightly again and made to follow the Orcs so that they would let Legolas go.

But once again, the Orcs let loose another group shout. This one wasn't ear-piercing like the other one had been...it sounded more like a cry of victory. Just as I stopped and looked at the Orcs behind me, I heard a great cracking noise from above. Looking up, I screamed as the mountain crumbled into tons of massive boulders and chunks of rock, hailing down on us. That's what they'd been trying to make. An avalanche!

I screamed again and dodged a boulder almost as tall as me as it fell down. The rocks began filling the air with dirt and dust as they fell, and I whirled around to see Legolas still being dragged away by the Orcs. He also looked panicked to see the avalanche. Just then, the Orcs dropped him on the ground and ran away. Dread filled my heart as I realized that they were leaving him there to die. "LEGOLAS!" I screamed again. "COME ON!"

But right as he stood up, another mass of rocks came tumbling down, and he managed to dodge them, but they blocked my view of him considerably. "ERIN!" he shouted over the noise of the mountain. "GET OUT OF HERE!" I could still see his face, and his expression was grim, but pleading.

"WHAT? NO!" I ran towards him, trying to clamber over the rocks. No way was I leaving my best friend behind. "I'M COMING!"

"ERIN, GO! YOU CANNOT DIE HERE! KEEP IT SAFE AND GET OUT!" He tried to say something else, but his voice was lost over a loud boom as a huge rock landed right in front of me.

I screamed again. "NO! I WON'T LEAVE YOU HERE!"

"ERIN!" Legolas shouted again. Now I couldn't see him at all. "RUN!"

I finally realized that I wasn't going to be able to get to him at this point. It was way too dangerous, and he was right. If I died, Aearya was as good as lost. No one would ever find it in here, because no one knew we traveled this way. "I...I..." My fate was decided for me as even more rubble continued to block my way of going to find Legolas. Before anything could get any worse, I turned and ran as fast as I could to get away from the avalanche. The way out was already pretty crowded, and I winced as I heard the shrieks of our ponies being crushed under the rocks. Surprisingly, though, I heard no Orc cries. They must've been smart enough to get out as soon as it started. Getting out of the rest of the rubble was absolute hell for me, though. I could barely see where I was going from all the dust, and several times a ton of small, sharp rocks would hail down on me, slicing up my arms and legs. I stumbled, too, but never completely fell. I couldn't afford to.

When I finally did make it out of the avalanche, I realized I had made it to the eastern side. I kept running for several more minutes, panting heavily. Once I made it safely to the edge of the trail, I turned around, expecting to see Legolas right on my tail.

He was nowhere to be seen.

It wasn't until then that it hit me. He hadn't gotten out. "No...NO!" I screamed as I ran back in. "LEGOLAS! LEGOLAS, ANSWER ME!" I didn't get much farther before another brief shower of rocks came down off of the mountain. I skidded to a stop, tears streaming down my face. There was no way I was getting back in there safely at this point. I choked back a sob, making no effort to dry my face. "Legolas..." Not only had I just lost a friend, I no longer had any supplies or way of knowing how to get to Lothlórien from here. And not all of the Orcs had been killed, either.

Not knowing what else to do, I turned away from the destroyed section of the ravine and slowly started walking away, following the trail until I came to a small cave in the side of the mountain where I curled up into a ball and cried myself to sleep.

oOo

The majority of the next day I spent still in my tiny cave, grieving for Legolas. He couldn't die. He just...he couldn't! He was supposed to live forever! To go back home to his father! To join the Fellowship, and help them!

At that realization, my fear rose even more. If Legolas was dead and wasn't in the Fellowship...what did that mean for the plot of the trilogy? Had I just screwed up Middle-Earth's fate entirely? Should I go back into the ravine and see if he was somehow still alive? Or should I try and make it to Lothlórien alone and explain to Galadriel what happened? Maybe I should just..just...

"Oh, Heaven help me!" I cried, slamming my fist into the ground halfheartedly. I had no idea what to do. The only thing I could be thankful for was that the Ring of Water hadn't been lost in all that craziness.

Suddenly, an air of boldness overcame me. Had I seen Legolas get smashed with my own two eyes? No. Had I directly heard him scream? No. So I had no solid proof that he was dead, which meant that I still had a shred of reason to go after him. That was all I needed. One tiny reason. Standing up and wiping my eyes, I exhaled. "If things were the opposite way, Legolas would certainly come looking for me." With that in mind, I made sure my sword was correctly sheathed, then stepped out into the broad daylight and took off, running back towards the scene of the avalanche.

oOo

It took me a lot longer to get back to the edge of the destruction than I'd thought it would. I stopped for a moment, looking up at the pile of rocks that towered above my head. "...Well. That's interesting." Pushing my fear to the back of my mind, I took a running jump and gripped the first hold I could reach in the rock, beginning my climb up the side of it.

Once I reached the top of the boulder, I had a pretty good view of most of the damage done from the avalanche since the dirt and dust had settled by now. In some places it had been tightly packed together, but even from up here I could see a few places where some of the rocks were only leaning up against each other, providing small pockets of open space in the midst of everything. My spirits rose ever so slightly at this, and I jumped down to a lower rock, beginning my search for my friend.

I searched through the rocks until night fell and I didn't have the strength to lift myself up over the next rock. I ungracefully flopped up against a boulder and slid down it until my butt hit the ground. My muscles ached from doing so much climbing, and I was absolutely worn out. I hadn't found any sign of life anywhere at all, and was beginning to doubt my motives for even coming in here in the first place. Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep again.

I don't know how long it was until I woke up, but when I did it was because I heard something nearby. Scratch that, someone. It was a person talking. Carefully, I hoisted myself off the ground and moved so that I was peeking through a small slit between two big boulders. Two Orcs were also climbing around in the destruction that their avalanche left behind, grumbling to themselves. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but it seemed like they were looking for something. Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. What if they were looking for me? I didn't want to be hunted!

I sat there, crouched on the ground silently as the walked right past me. _Are all Orcs this stupid? _I watched them struggle to get around on the rocky terrain, feeling like I should follow them. In my head, I knew it was sort of a stupid idea to sneak around following Orcs, as this could likely get me captured, but...something in my gut told me not to let them get away. So I waited until just after I couldn't see them before scrambling over the two boulders I was hiding behind, trying to stay as silent as possible. Though, with them talking so loud I felt like my faint footsteps would go unheard. I got as close to them as I dared, and then followed them from behind. I stayed far enough away that they likely wouldn't be able to hear or see me, but I could see them as two small black dots on the edge of my vision and hear their hissing voices. They seemed to be in a very intense conversation on whatever they were talking about.

That was basically how the rest of the night went for me. I kept following them, through the rest of the evening and straight on until morning. The Orcs only stopped once or twice for a brief break, but even then I didn't let myself sleep. I was too afraid that if I over slept and woke up after they left, I'd never find them again. At one point in the morning, though, as I got to the peak of a particularly large boulder, I realized with a shock that they were leading me out of the ravine and over to the side that Legolas and I had entered from. "Hmmm," I said to myself before quickly throwing myself over the edge of the rock and sliding down the other side.

What was even more interesting was that eventually either I started moving faster, or they were going slower, because I caught up to them quicker than I expected to. Eventually I was only about a dozen yards or so away from them, which was a bit too close for comfort from my point of view. Nevertheless, I steadily followed them as the Orcs made their way out of the ravine. I didn't exit the rocks myself, though. Instead I stopped right at the entrance and listened. What surprised me was the fact that I could hear more Orc voices besides just the two I had followed. "A camp!" I whispered. _Do I dare to look?...Yes. _I slowly moved to a position where once again I was spying on them through a crevice in the boulders.

What I saw almost made me faint. My suspicions were true; there seriously was an Orc camp set up just outside of the mass of rocks. They were somewhat sheltered by a semicircle of those scrawny bushes that I'd seen going through here before, because the bushes were fairly tall. Taller than me, anyway. There were about a dozen or more Orcs gathered at this little camp, all sitting around the fire casually doing Orc stuff. And Legolas was seated in the middle of it all, hands bound and looking pretty beat up, but alive. He was staring into the flames, looking absolutely miserable.

As soon as I saw him sitting there, my eyes widened and I moved away, pressing my back to the little peephole with a thankful grin on my face. "Yes," I breathed. "Thank you, Lord."

Turning back around, I sat and watched as the two Orcs I'd followed back here conversed with an Orc that was bigger than the rest, most likely the captain of the small troupe. After a minute or so, the captain turned to Legolas and snarled. "Y'hear that, Elf-Boy? They didn't find yer lil' friend out there."

_Ahh, so they __were__ hunting for me, _I mused. Legolas didn't respond. In fact, he didn't even look up at the Orc when it spoke. This apparently pissed said Orc off, because he took an intimidating step towards Legolas. "Yer captain is speakin' teh yeh, Elf-Boy!"

"And what did you expect me to do?" he retorted quietly, but hotly. This got some of the other Orcs angry, and the captain just glared at Legolas, then grunted an order to two of his followers. They then went over to Legolas, grabbed his shoulders, and thrust him forward so that his face was above the flames. His golden hair dangled down in front of him, mere inches from catching on fire. Legolas' face showed no trace of fear, but mine sure as heck did. I almost screamed.

The Orc captain crouched down on one knee so that Legolas could see him from across the fire. "Would yeh like teh try that again, _Elf-Boy?" _he sneered.

Thought it looked like it tore Legolas up inside to say it, I could tell the fire was hurting him. "My apologies...Captain."

"Anything else yeh 'ave teh say?"

Legolas exhaled, and at his next statement I did see a trace of fear in his eyes, but not for himself. "She...she hid herself well, then."

The Orc captain laughed cruelly, and the two Orcs holding Legolas yanked him back so that he was sitting upright again. "Oh, so she's hidden, is she? I got news fer yeh." He sauntered over to where Legolas sat and bent down so that he was close to the prince's face. "There ain't no way that _anything _got out of that mess alive." He pointed a stubby finger to the rocks. Directly at me, actually. "Yer lucky that we managed teh pull yer sorry arse outta there. If yer friend wasn't found by them...she's as good as dead." At this, he laughed harshly again, along with the rest of the Orcs.

I rolled my eyes at the Orc's attempt to intimidate Legolas. There's no way he'd ever think that-

"I figured as much."

I blinked and stared intently back at the lone elf in the camp again. The statement had not been terribly loud, but I still heard it. And when I looked back at him, it broke my heart to see him staring at the ground, looking absolutely crushed. _Oh, no..._

After that, the Orc captain turned around to his men. "Whaddaya think, boys? Lashes or chains?"

My muscles tensed. _What is he talking about?_

The Orcs began chanting and calling out answers for their captain. The majority seemed to prefer lashes. "Fine, then! Lashes it is!" A whoop went up from many in the small crowd, and my jaw dropped as one of the disgusting things brought forth a long, dirty, coiled up whip. _No...oh Lord, please no..._

The captain took it from the other Orc's hands, and smiled with satanic glee as two more Orcs turned Legolas around so that his back was to the crowd, and his front was to me. They yanked his shirt up over his head and threw it on the dirty ground. The other Orcs began chanting something in the Black Speech, over and over as the captain slowly uncoiled the filthy black whip. He then suspended the tip of it over the flames, holding it over just long enough that the tip of it burned with a red hot glow. Then with a roar, he viciously brought it down on Legolas' bare back, to which the rest of the Orcs jeered gleefully. Legolas' face twisted into a pained grimace, though he did not cry out.

Tears filled my eyes as the Orc captain drew back his whip and struck him again with a loud crack slicing through the air. Legolas shuddered violently at the impact of the burning whip, but once again made no sound. A third slash. I wanted so badly to look away from the sight of my friend being tortured, but for some reason couldn't. A fourth slash. The Orcs continued their giggling and taunting of him as their captain lashed him mercilessly. A fifth slash. His entire body shook again, and it seemed to take all he had not to scream. I felt like an idiot, sitting here and watching his torture, but I couldn't do anything now. I didn't have a plan.

On the sixth stroke, Legolas finally broke and screamed in agony. This only fueled Sauron's servants with even more energy, and the Orc captain smiled at finally getting a response from his captive. He lashed a seventh time, and Legolas' scream was torture enough for me that I finally looked away. Three more times I heard the crack of whip against skin, and Legolas' cries echoed in the night air. When the lashing finally ceased, every Orc in the place started laughing, and I looked back through my peephole to see the two Orcs that had been holding him pick him up by the arms and show his back to the eager audience. I choked back a sob at the sight of ten slashes of blood on his pale skin and the burned flesh around each one.

The captain turned to his Orcs with a hateful grin on his face. "See, boys? This is how teh rotten Firstborn should be treated!" He nodded to the two Orcs holding Legolas up, who proceeded to throw him roughly onto the ground as the others laughed openly at him. One of them was at least kind enough to toss his dirty shirt back at him.

I wiped away tears as I watched Legolas slowly replace his dirty shirt, wincing with every movement. I had to get him out of there, before they beat him to death. And before they found me, too. If both of us were captured...I highly doubted there was any hope of us getting away again.

**A/N: Man...I torture poor Legolas too much in my stories. XD So...this chapter's long because I felt like writing a long one, I guess. I dunno lol. I might not be able to update tomorrow, because my cousins are coming over for the day. We'll see. :3 Hopefully this chapter was good enough for you guys. I wasn't exactly sure how to write the avalanche scene, but I wanted to make something interesting happen besides having paragraph after paragraph of Legolas and Erin just traveling. Oh, and be sure to review! Reviews make me smile and write faster! :D**


	15. The Great Escape

A Strange Twist of Fate: Chapter Fifteen

By sundown that day, I had a plan to get Legolas out of there. The real question was whether or not it was gonna work. It wasn't the greatest plan I'd ever come up with, but it would have to do. With a little bit of luck and excellent timing, things would be fine. I went over it several times in my head, making sure there weren't any major loopholes or anything like that. Despite all the quadruple-checking that I did, though...I was nervous that it wouldn't work.

I had to wait for cover of darkness for my plan to begin, so I spent the rest of the day sitting and watching the happenings at the Orc camp. It wasn't fun at all. Twice I had to witness Legolas getting tortured by those vile things, and I found out what the Orc captain had meant when he talked about "chains" earlier. Let's just say...it wasn't pretty. Thankfully, my hours of sitting patiently paid off, because when the time came around for me to put my plan into action, there was only one Orc awake in the entire camp who sat at the entrance keeping guard. There was only one gap in the bramble that fenced everybody in, and it was large enough that about three people could walk through it shoulder to shoulder. The Orc sat off to the side, next to where the bushes started growing. The other side of the little doorway was the wall of boulders I was hidden in.

Once I was finally convinced that everyone else was asleep by the loud snores of the other Orcs, I felt around on the ground for a rock. I picked up one that was a bit bigger than my fist, hefted it to make sure it was heavy enough, and then quietly moved into a position where I was crouched atop the wall of rocks, but still unnoticed by the guard. Taking a moment to calm myself, I gripped the stone, took aim, and chucked it across the camp. It hit the back of the Orc's head perfectly with a crack that went unheard amidst the snoring, and a second later he slumped to the ground, unconscious.

I smiled to myself, then quickly slipped down back into my hiding space, found the exit, and slipped inside the Orc camp without disturbing anything. Stopping in the entrance, I thanked the heavens that the Orcs had been nice enough to keep a low fire going through the night, providing me with the ability to see what I was doing. I soon spotted Legolas, hands bound and curled up in the corner between the rocks and the gnarled bushes, looking like he was in the middle of a bad dream. I looked around some more and spotted his sword, bow, and quiver laying next to one of the sleeping Orcs as well.

Moving quickly and quietly, I picked up his weapons and then snuck across the campsite to where he was curled up, trying not to make too much noise other than the soft crunch of gravel under my boots. Thankfully, most of these Orcs were pretty heavy sleepers...so far.

I got on one knee next to my friend and clapped a hand over his mouth. At my touch, his eyes shot open in fear, probably thinking he was going to be whipped again or something. When he saw my face, his eyes widened in fear even more, but I pressed a finger to my lips and shook my head. We had to stay silent. Shoving his weapons into his hands, I unsheathed one of my own knives that hung from my belt and quickly cut through the rough ropes that bound him. Within seconds he was ready to get on his feet, but I pushed him back down. In as loud of a whisper as I dared, I said "No. Not yet. Stay here, and act like you're still tied up." I pointed to the rocks above him. "I'll be right there on the other side in a minute or so. I've got something planned for these guys as payback. When the Orcs start freaking out, be ready to climb over the rock wall. You can do that, right?" He nodded. "Good. I'll see you in a few. Be ready to run, too."

Without another word, I got up and left him, making my way to the center of the camp where the fire burned. After looking at it for a second, I found a piece of timber that was flaming brightly on the end. Using it as a torch, I grabbed it and ran over to several feet away from where Legolas sat, about halfway through the circle of bushes. _This stuff should burn easily. _I lowered the burning stick to the base of the bush, right next to an Orc's foot. Once I detected a flame starting to creep its way up the prickly stuff, I ran back over to the entrance where the guard Orc was still knocked out. Smirking triumphantly, I set the entire stick down by his rear, making sure that that end of the bushes caught fire, too. At that second, I heard the screeches of an Orc who had been rudely awoken and sprinted out of there, ducking back inside the rock wall just as the rest of them were woken up by the fire.

I took a second to catch my breath before continuing over to the area of the wall that Legolas should've been sitting against. On the way over, I stuck my face up to my peephole, grinning as I saw that the fire had quickly spread, and that now almost the entire semicircle of bushes was up in flames. They burned just how I had hoped the would, too. A blanket of thick black smoke now spread over the camp, which was in utter chaos. Every Orc in the place was on their feet, freaking out at the sudden disaster. Once I thought that the smoke had spread enough, I went over to where I was to meet Legolas and hoisted myself up to the to of the rock. I could make out his form, coughing and gagging on the soot and ash around him. "Legolas!" I hissed, hoping I was loud enough that he would hear me against the screams of his other campmates.

With his elven hearing, that wasn't a problem. He immediately looked up at me and didn't waste a second in jumping to his feet and scrambling up the rock wall. I grabbed his arms and helped pull him over, just barely catching him before my legs gave out and we both fell to the ground. Although I knew he was probably still a bit out of breath, we had no time to lose. Someone would soon notice he was gone. I grabbed his arm, yanked him to his feet, and started pulling him behind me as I ran. "Come on! We've gotta get out of here!"

He said nothing, still coughing from being in the fire. When he finally did start keeping pace with me, he glanced over at me, a bajillion different emotions on his face. "Erin-"

"And before you say anything..." I looked over at him with a smile. "You were an idiot to ever believe that I was dead."

He smiled back, then looked ahead as I stepped in front of him and started leading him out of the rocky maze to the best of my ability. We moved quickly, leaving the cries of the terrorized Orcs behind us. In fact, until he spoke again we were in complete silence, so Legolas spoke quietly. "How in the Valar did you think of something like that?"

"Well, I knew I had to get you out of there somehow."

He raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "You are insane."

"Thank goodness for that, because if I wasn't that would probably have never worked," I said with a laugh.

oOo

The two of us ran for awhile, not stopping until neither of us could go any further. When we did finally stop to rest, the first thing I did was climb up one of the boulders around us and look around, trying to figure out where we were. From what I could see, we were about halfway through the destruction. I could see the last of the smoke floating up into the night air from far off.

When I got back down, Legolas had his hand pressed up against a big rock, leaning on it as he caught his breath. I said nothing for a couple seconds. "...I saw what they did to you."

He didn't look up at me, just nodded.

"How's your back?"

"Hurting," he replied.

I felt so bad for him, especially since he'd had to run so far with all his injuries just now. "Can I see it?"

"Erin, I do not think now is the best time to-"

"Now might be the only chance we get in awhile," I said. "Let me see it." He let out a sigh of defeat, then proceeded to take off his shirt, revealing his back to me. When I finally saw it, I cringed. There were at least fifteen slashes drawn across his skin, some beginning to scab over, some still bleeding a bit. All of them had red burned tissue around them, and some of them were slightly swollen because of this. "Oh my gosh...that's a lot worse than I thought it would be." I didn't dare touch it, because I knew it would sting. "Does it hurt to run?"

He chuckled at this, but not happily. "It hurts to do anything."

"Figures," I sighed. "You can put your shirt back on now...actually, don't."

Now he turned around and looked over at me, confused. "What? Why not?"

"Because that thing you want to call a shirt is torn up and absolutely filthy. Do you have any idea how infected some of those could get from wearing that thing? Plus, I know it hurts you to put anything on your back, even if it is just a shirt." I looked at him knowingly.

He looked uncomfortable. "Erin...I am not sure that this is exactly proper..."

I rolled my eyes. "Seriously? It's not like I'm seeing you completely naked, Legolas. You'll survive." I almost laughed when he stiffened at my comment. "Now let's go. The faster we run, the sooner we get to Lothlórien and a healer." Without leaving time for him to argue, I started weaving my way through the rocks again. A moment later I glanced behind me, happy to see that he'd obeyed and was running right behind me.

oOo

Several days later, we finally made it to the edge of the Golden Wood. Although we had come across enough wild berries, a few small birds, and even a stream or two, we were still ridiculously tired, hungry, and thirsty. So you can imagine my relief once I spotted the borders of what I considered to be my homeland on the horizon.

Once Legolas and I reached the woods sometime in the evening, we were found by a band of patrol elves. One of them, whose name was Landion, offered to take Legolas and I to Caras Galadhon. He was a young elf, muscular and tall, with warm brown hair and light blue eyes. Landion was a fast runner, too, so the three of us arrived at the main city rather quickly. From there, Legolas and I dismissed Landion to go back to his troop, as we both knew the way to the palace well.

As we walked, I looked around, waving to many elves that I knew as we passed them by. "I really wish I was here for a vacation instead of running errands for your dad," I said.

"As do I, Erin," Legolas said. "But we must do what we must in order to save Mirkwood. Believe me, if there was any other way...I would choose that over this. It is unfortunate that this is the only way."

I nodded. I felt kind of selfish, knowing that I was technically only doing this to save my own skin while Legolas was really trying to save his home. "Yeah. At least once this is all over we can return them. It's not like we're stealing them for forever."

Legolas smiled at me. "That is definitely a good thing about it."

A few minutes later we arrived at Galadriel and Celeborn's palace. Once some of the servants saw us, they went running off in various directions to summon their queen and king. We did not wait for long before we were allowed inside, where the two royals sat on their thrones.

As we bowed low before them, I heard Celeborn chuckle a bit. "How is it that we can never meet without you two looking like you have been to Mordor and back?"

I smiled up at him. "Guess I'm just bad luck for Legolas."

The older elf rolled his eyes. "If anything, it was my fault that we were delayed this time." The two of us quickly recounted our adventure through the ravine to the rulers of Lórien, who paid close attention and listened with sympathetic looks on their faces.

"Because of this, I ask that talens be provided for us, along with a proper healer to tend to Legolas' wounds," I finished.

Galadriel raised an eyebrow. "And what of you, Erin? You did not escape unscathed, which is plain to see."

I looked down at myself. She was right, actually. I had cuts and scrapes from all the rocks running up and down my arms and legs, and the deep red tunic Arwen had made for me was all but destroyed. I wasn't as beat up as Legolas, obviously, but I guess I needed some medical attention, too. "Huh. I honestly never thought about that. I would love to see a healer as well."

She smiled. "We will send for two tents to be prepared for your arrival, as well as your old talens. Though I believe yours is still as it was when you left it, Erin."

I grinned. "Really? Caladhiel kept her promise, then."

"That she did. You have been greatly missed here, Erin. Welcome back."

I nodded to Galadriel, and then we were dismissed. Legolas and I stepped outside, ready to head down to the healing tents. As soon as I set foot on the ground from coming down the stairs, I heard a familiar voice call my name. "And just where do you think you are going, Erin?" Legolas went on ahead without me.

Turning around, I smiled. "Hey!" I gave Haldir a hug. "How are you?"

"I could ask the same to you," he said, looking me up and down as he pulled away. "You look terrible."

"Oh, shut up." I playfully punched him in the arm. "You would too, if you'd gone through an avalanche and Orc attack."

At this, his eyes widened in alarm. "Oh Valar! Are you alright?"

"Hey, I made it out alive, didn't I?" I laughed. "Of course I'm alright." I watched him carefully, wondering if his feelings for me were still there. So far, I couldn't tell.

He smiled warmly at me. "Well I am glad you are back, Erin. I missed you."

_And...cue the awkward tension. _I forced a smile. "Same here, man. I won't be here long, though. Legolas and I are just stopping by before going back to Mirkwood."

I could see the joy fade the slightest bit in his eyes. "Ah. And here I was hoping you would finally decide to settle down and stay here."

"Sorry," I said. "I've got things to take care of back there." Seeing how bummed he was, I clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about it. I'll be back soon."

Haldir smiled again, though halfheartedly. "I hope so. Now go see a healer before you pass out."

I laughed again. "See ya, Haldir." Turning and walking away, I sighed. I had really been hoping that what had gone down in the past would've blown over by now, but apparently not. Maybe I could just slip out of here unnoticed by him, and avoid trouble. But...that seemed like the cheap way out. I'd have to confront him about it eventually.

As the healing tents came into sight, I groaned. "Drama sucks."


	16. Insane Nightmares

**A/N: Hello again! :D Just so you guys know, I haven't given up on my other story. I'm working on the next chapter, and it's about halfway done. :) Uhhh...that's all for now! Thanks for all the reviews, and enjoy this chapter! ^^**

A Strange Twist of Fate: Chapter Sixteen

I wove through the trees of Lothlórien, dodging trunks as I ran towards my destination. When I reached it, I scrambled up the rope ladder and shoved the curtains aside, my eyes instantly turning to the elf seated on the bed in front of me. "Legolas!" I called.

He twisted around from where he was seated on the bed, in the middle of re-braiding his hair. "What? What is it?"

I paused for a moment, out of breath from running. Once I could talk normally again, I opened my fist and held up the Ring of Air for him to see. "I got it."

His eyes lit up. "Excellent!"

"Did you tell Galadriel and Celeborn we'd be leaving soon?"

He nodded. "Yes. They were perfectly okay with it since I said we were to return to my father promptly."

"Awesome. Let's go, then. I'll meet you down on the ground in about ten minutes, okay?" He nodded, and I turned and lightly ran across the branches that connected our two trees together, getting over to my own talen quite easily. Once over there, I ran to my trunk, quickly got all my stuff together, and fastened Sûlya securely on the same silver chain as Aearya was on. The Ring of Air was also designed similarly to the other Elemental Bands, but it was almost entirely a solid silver band, except for the elongated swirls of pale blueish-grey enamel that had been carved into it.

True to my word, I was on the ground not too long after that, and Legolas climbed down a few minutes later. "Ready?" I nodded. "Come on." He led the way as we walked quickly towards the stables, where Galadriel had graciously provided horses for us. Within the hour, we had mounted our trusty steeds and were on the road again.

Once we were out of Lothlórien, Legolas glanced over at me as we rode side by side. He had been given a beautiful white horse that looked similar to his old one, and my new horse was a sleek black one with white stockings. "So...how did you end up getting the ring this time?"

I shrugged. "Pretty much the same way I got Elrond's. Did some sneaking around when the time was right, found the ring, and got out before anyone noticed. I gotta give props to Galadriel, though. She hid it pretty well, too."

"Where was it?"

"In the wall, behind one of the tapestries in her study. I still like how Elrond hid hid better, though."

"Hmm." He thought about that for a second, then pushed his horse into a faster run.

I did a double-take. "What, you trying to outrun me now?" I dug my heels into my new horse's sides as well (who I had named Rick Jr.), pulling ahead of Legolas.

He smirked at me as he then increased speed even more so that we were neck and neck. "It would not be too difficult," he teased.

I scoffed. "Is that a challenge, sir?"

"If you want it to be."

I studied him carefully. "Well played, Greenleaf. Well played. You're on!" With that, I coaxed Rick Jr. into an even faster run, pulling ahead of the elf. Sadly, I had never taken the time to learn the art of horse racing, so Legolas quickly outdid me, going so fast that I was surprised he didn't shed some skin or anything.

In the end, he won, and we stopped for the night several hours later. We decided to set up camp in a thinly wooded area amidst the trees, as it looked like there could be a potential storm headed our way. We sat around the fire and talked for awhile as we usually did, but I wasn't really focused on the conversation. I couldn't get the guilt from stealing Sûlya off my mind. Eventually we said good night to each other and laid down to sleep, but even then it bothered me. My mind raced and kept me awake. I felt terrible for what I'd done.

After unsuccessfully trying to fall asleep for what seemed like hours, I finally gave up and quietly rose from my bedroll, walking away from the camp in some general direction, but staying close enough that I could still see the light of the glowing embers of our dying fire. I quickly looked around for a good climbing tree, scaled it, and nestled myself comfortably on one of the strong branches, leaning my back up against the trunk and letting one leg dangle, while I stretched the other one out along the branch. I ripped a couple of leaves off of the tree and twirled their stems in my fingers as I quietly sang to myself. _"Tin__ú__viel...elvanui...elleth alfirin...edhelhael...o hon ring...finnil fuinui...a renc gelebrin...thiliol..." _

"That is the song of Lúthien Tinúviel."

I jumped considerably and wobbled on my perch, my arms wildly flailing about and catching another branch above me to steady myself. Glaring at the ground, I said "Jesus frosting, Legolas! You almost made me fall out of the tree! Why did you follow me?"

"I heard you singing," he said simply. "I am sorry that I frightened you, I was just curious. How did you learn that song?"

"Uhh..." How was I supposed to explain that I learned it from hearing Aragorn sing it in the extended edition of _Fellowship_? "I just...I've heard it before back home, and I thought it was a pretty song. So I taught myself how to sing it."

I could see Legolas staring up at me from below. "Why were you singing that?"

I sighed. "Because it's a sad song. At least, it comes off as a sad song with the melody and all. It matches my mood."

"It is because of the ring," he said.

"Yeah." At this point I was slightly annoyed that he was still standing there. "If you had to steal from what you considered to be your own homeland, you'd be upset too."

"Well, of course," Legolas replied, trying to sympathize. "I-"

"Do me a favor, Legolas. Go back to sleep. I don't really need sympathy right now."

If the elf was surprised by my bitter tone, he didn't show it. "All right. My apologies." I listened as he walked away, my eyes focused on the stars above me. I sat in the tree for awhile after he left, until I finally started feeling tired. With a sigh, I eased myself down from the tree and headed back to the camp, the song replaying itself in my head as I fell asleep.

oOo

Thankfully, the return journey through Mirkwood wasn't as eventful as last time. It was quick, easy, and spider-free. Upon returning to Thranduil's palace, however, things completely changed. Almost as soon as I set foot on the royal grounds, I was whisked away from Legolas by some random guard who led me to the throne room, where I was presented to Thranduil, who in turn took me back into his little library where we'd had our last meeting.

I shut the door behind me, then turned around and looked over to the elvenking, who was smiling at me proudly. "So? Have you really done it?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes, pulling the chain that held the two remaining Elemental Bands over my head. "Here." I tossed the chain at him with a bit of force, hoping it would hit him in the face or something, but he caught it in his hands easily. Friking elves and their ninja reflexes.

My hostility did not go unnoticed, though. Thranduil raised an eyebrow at me. "Why the foul mood, my dear? You completed your mission, and you are no longer under threat of death from Atontarya."

"Yeah, but I had to steal from people I care about in order to do it!" I glared at him. "Don't think for a second I ever did this because I wanted to. If it wasn't for your blackmail, none of this would've happened. I think it's even safe to say you owe me after all this." I mumbled the last bit.

Thranduil either didn't hear me, or chose to ignore me. Either way, he seemed too caught up in his precious rings to care. He slipped Aearya and Sûlya off of the chain, discarding it onto the ground. He admired their beauty for a moment before slipping them into his robes. _Does he have an infinite amount of storage space in there or something? _I wondered.

The ruler of Greenwood then turned to me, smiling fondly at me again. "My dear Erin..." He stepped closer and spread his arms out, like he wanted to hug me. I didn't move. After a moment of tense silence, he awkwardly lowered his arms and continued. "From the bottom of my heart, I thank you. As compensation for your deeds, I will allow you to stay here in the palace as a guest of mine for as long as you would like. Your room has gone untouched since you have left at my request. With the exception of the cleaning staff, of course."

"Uh huh." I said nonchalantly. "Is that all?"

"Yes, I suppose so," said the king. "You may go." I quickly turned on my heel and headed for the door, but just as my fingertips touched the brass handle, I heard Thranduil sigh from behind me. "Erin..."

I looked back at him. "What?"

"You did the right thing, dear, whether you wish to believe it or not. You helped save my kingdom. And I promise you that once Dol Guldur is defeated, I will see to it that the rings are returned to their proper owners."

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?" I said hotly before leaving the room. I angrily walked around the cavern palace, making my way back up to my room. Honestly, Thranduil was being absolutely ridiculous! "You did the right thing, Erin," I mocked, giving the king a dumb sounding voice. "Mirkwood is safe because of you, Erin. You can live in my house, Erin. Well, guess what, Mr. Idiot? I don't give a flying-"

I was cut off as I rounded a corner and crashed right into someone, knocking them over, tripping, falling, and then landing right on top of them in a very awkward fashion. "Sorry!" I cried, climbing off of the person's stomach. "I didn't- oh, hey Legolas."

He laughed lightly. "Well, hello to you too." Seeing the irked expression on my face, he frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah. Has anyone ever told you that your dad is stupid?" I moved around him and continued on down the hallway. "Seriously. He needs some sense slapped into him."

Legolas followed me. "What? What did he say?"

"He thinks it's perfectly okay to send people like me and you to go steal stuff from others! I'm not his friking slave or something? Who does he think he is?"

"Well...he _is _the king of Mirk-"

"Shut up, Legolas. I didn't ask you to tag along, you know."

Now it was he that scowled at me. "I was only trying to help. Forgive me for attempting to befriend you."

"If you want to help, then go yell at your dad for me and ask him why it's okay to steal rings of power from people!" I spun around and faced him as I arrived at my room. "Ask him why he didn't care at all that he basically just forced me to steal from the only people in this godforsaken world that actually care about my well-being!" I turned back around and went into my room, belly flopping onto my bed. I laid there for a few minutes, silently fuming in my mind. When I did get up and turn around, I was surprised to see Legolas standing at the foot of my bed, a concerned expression on his face. "Oh. You're still here?"

He exhaled and looked at me. "Erin...I am sorry that you were dragged into this."

I blinked. "Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything."

"Yes, I did. If I had not taken Atontarya from you in the first place, none of this would have happened. I am sorry for causing you such pain." Legolas then came forward and hugged me. Also not something I expected, but...I went with it and hugged him back anyway. "However, you are completely wrong about that last statement."

I pulled away from him. "What?"

"You said that the only ones who care about you are in Lothlórien. I am sorry to tell you this, but...you are sadly mistaken. If I did not care for you at all, would I be comforting you right now?" He looked into my eyes expectantly, wanting an answer.

I stared back, not wanting to agree with him, but finally giving in and hugging him again, which he returned. "You're awesome."

oOo

The next couple of days went pretty smoothly. Legolas and I were hanging out together almost all the time. We practiced archery together, I improved on my Elvish-speaking skills, and we even pulled a few pranks on a couple innocent, unsuspecting palace servants from time to time (which usually ended up with us getting a lecture from Thranduil). Nothing major, though. Well...except for one thing.

It started with me, casually climbing through the trees that were scattered throughout the small town. I was humming happily to myself, swinging around from branch to branch like a monkey, perfectly content. "This day is going to be perfect...the kind of day of which I dreamed since I was small..." I laughed as I startled a beautiful bright green and yellow bird from its perch, sending it flying off into the vast blue sky. I watched it go, crouched on a low-hanging branch right above the roof of a house, when I scrunched my nose. Something smelled funny. Like something was...burning? I looked down at the house below me, and cried out.

It was on fire.

As I quickly jumped over the flaming roof and landed shakily on the ground below, I looked around and panicked even more. Houses everywhere were up in flames. Elves were running for their lives, taking their families with them as buildings crumbled and collapsed all around me. The trees burned, and black smoke was everywhere. I spun around in circles, turning this way and that, not believing what was going on.

Then I heard the horrible, grating screeches that I knew too well. "Orcs!" I hissed. I turned around, expecting to see a small horde of them breaking in or something. But what I saw was so much worse. There was an entire army of more than just Orcs. Goblins, Trolls, the Great Spiders, and even a few types of creatures I couldn't describe smashed through the gates of the town like it was made of sand. The wall absolutely disintegrated as the ginormous army poured in, setting fire to anything they could reach and killing all in their path. Their weapons were all metal, black, jagged, and cruel, and they chanted horrible war cries and gnashed their teeth as they attacked the city. I watched helplessly as they even got their grimy hands on a couple of young elf women and children that they dragged away for their own..._uses._

Wait, what was I doing just standing here? I should be over there kicking their butts! My hand instinctively flew to my hips, where I kept my sword and knives, but all it found was soft fabric. Glancing down, I realized I was still in the white gown that I'd put on that morning. _"Rhaich!" _(Curses!) I swore. Without thinking, I turned and bolted towards the nearest house that wasn't on fire, climbing up it until I was standing on the roof, above the danger.

Out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly saw movement up at the palace. Turning my gaze to the north, I smiled as I saw Mirkwood's army marching out from the palace doors, approaching the dark army head-on. As they grew closer, I smiled to myself as I recognized Legolas at the head of them, clad in shining gold and brown armor, looking like...well, like a boss!

He stared at the approaching army with hatred, and his commands to his fellow archers were loud and crystal clear. "_Tangado a chadad!"_ (Prepare to fire!) The elves moves in perfect synchronization, swiftly fitting arrows to their dark brown bows. Once they were within range, Legolas gave the next command. _"Leithio i philinn!"_(Fire the arrows!) Bows sang and arrows whistled as many of the enemies at the front of the pack fell to the ground. Seconds later, another volley was given, and yet another row of Sauron's servants were felled.

Just as the archers got close to the orcs at the front, they split in half and stepped to the side. A new group of warriors charged down the center of the street, their elven blades glinting in the moonlight. Metal met metal in the center with a series of clashes and clangs, and the archers quickly moved back and into a different position to aid those working with blades. What shocked me, though, was that after a few minutes, someone was thrown roughly up against the wall of the house I was standing on top of. I looked down as a particularly foul looking Goblin walked up and grabbed the warrior by the throat, holding them up so that their feet were dangling in the air. I frowned, about to jump down and help, when the Goblin ripped the helmet off of the warrior, tossing it to the side. "What's this? A lil' girl, fighting?"

I froze. "Wait...what the...that...that's me!"

My second self scowled at the Goblin before kneeing him in a man's most vulnerable spot. "Yep. And it's the last thing you're ever gonna see." Erin the Second then stabbed him in the gut, rendering him lifeless before plunging back into battle.

I stared as I watched myself run back into the midst of things. "B-But...what the frick?" Then it hit me. "Wait...this is a dream, then! I'm dreaming!"

Suddenly, a piercing screech echoed across the land, causing the elves to look up in fear and the dark army in glee. A Fell Beast came swooping down into the battle, with none other than the King of the Nazgûl seated on its back. He swooped low over the streets of the town, his beast picking up elves in its claws and mouth, soaring high, then dropping them back down to the stone streets below. I cringed as a couple of them were flung into the trees behind me. The presence of the Ringwraith now turned the odds against the elves, and to top it all off, the spiders and trolls had now started viciously attacking the realm of the Wood-Elves as well. I winced as the Black Rider let out another ear piercing scream.

And then from the palace, there came a booming shout. "STOP THIS MADNESS!"

Every warrior who was able turned to face the palace of their leader, smiles emerging on their faces. When I looked over, my jaw dropped. Because there stood King Thranduil himself, standing on a balcony that jutted out from the front of the palace. He was wearing rich emerald green robes with a wreath of green leaves on his head and a scepter of gold with a shimmering crystal gem at its tip, staring at the Nazgûl defiantly.

The Nazgûl looked over at this new enemy, then urged his Fell Beast to stop clawing elves apart and approach the King of Mirkwood. The giant corrupted lizard swooped down until its master was almost level with Thranduil, and then hovered in midair. Battle still raged on in the streets below as the Ringwraith spoke, its voice chilling me to the bone. _"Who are you to decide the outcome of this war, Tree King? With the power of Sauron, we will crush you."_

Thranduil's glare was unflinching as he spoke. "Your dark power means nothing here. I will offer you once chance to pull back your armies and retreat from my forest entirely before I force you out."

The Ringwraith laughed. _"Force us? You and your people are all but dead. You are powerless."_

"Am I?" With this, Thranduil held up his fist, and even from afar I could see the glint of all four Elemental Bands on his fingers, with the Ring of Unity on his pinkie. As he thrust his fist into the air, a bright flash of light emerged from the rings and traveled all the way down to his toes, transforming the king completely. His robes were now a dazzling white that shone like the moon, the leaves on his head turned solid gold, and his blue eyes blazed with a dangerous fire. Gripping his staff tightly, he spoke again. "With the power of all four elements against you, I will vanquish you from my lands permanently! Now leave, before you all suffer!" His voice was much louder now, and though most elves were still caught up in the fighting, they all looked at some point over to the palace balcony, in awe of this new power their king was displaying. My eyes found Legolas amongst the crowd, and my second self was standing right next to him, desperately shouting something to him and trying to pull him away. On the roof I frowned, but turned my attention back to Thranduil and the Nazgûl.

The Ringwraith watched Thranduil for a moment, as if thinking. After a few seconds, however, it emitted another screech and the Fell Beast leapt back, flying backwards into the night air. The Orcs and other enemies of the elves pulled back as well, and a cry of victory went up amongst the immortals. The enemy was retreating!

But from there, it all went downhill. With lighting speed, the Fell Beast swooped down low again, the Black Rider emitting a louder cry than ever before as its beast's claws hit the ground, absolutely destroying it. Elves screamed and dodged to the side, and I watched my second self jump out of the way just in time, barely missing getting caught in its talons. The Fell Beast then reared up again, and for a second it seemed like it hadn't caught anything. But then came the cry that almost tore my heart in half.

"ADA!" Legolas screamed. The creature had plucked him off of the ground and was now dangling him in front of his father, holding the battered prince just out of reach. I glanced down at my second self, who had the same look of terror on her face as I did from my perch on the roof.

The Nazgûl laughed bitterly. _"Oh, look what a predicament you're in now, Thranduil. Even you would not betray your only son and heir, would you?" _The Fell Beast roared at its master's prompting, squeezing Legolas tighter in its talons and ignoring his pained cries.

Thranduil looked to his son for a few seconds, then to the Nazgûl who held him captive.

_"If you truly love him," _it hissed, _"then put the scepter down."_

It seemed like everyone on the battlefield was holding their breath. Thranduil looked back at his son, the closed his eyes and hung his head. "He's giving in..." I whispered to myself.

But at that moment, his head snapped up again, his eyes filled with even more hatred than before. "NO!" he roared, and even I flinched at his voice. "NO MORE! FOR CENTURIES IT HAS BEEN MY HEART'S DESIRE TO SEE YOU AND YOUR KIND DESTROYED! THAT WILL NOT CHANGE!" Before anyone could react, he aimed the scepter at the ground below the Fell Beast, and to the amazement of all, the earth shook violently as the ground split into a seemingly bottomless chasm. I watched, mouth agape, as dozens of his own elves were claimed by the earth and tumbled to their doom below.

"Wait, what?" I shrieked. "What's going on? Thranduil, you're killing your own people!"

Thranduil looked back up at the wraith. "BEGONE, FOUL BEAST!" He then aimed his staff at the Nazgûl directly, and from its tip there came a huge blast of fire that hit its target dead on, completely engulfing both the Nazgûl and the Fell Beast in seconds. The Fell Beast died almost instantly, and with one last fading roar it tumbled into the chasm below, now nothing more than ashes. But just as the last of the Fell Beast's cry faded away, a new one took its place.

"ADAAAA!"

My eyes widened in horror as I watched Legolas fall in as well after the wretched creatures. I looked up at Thranduil, expecting him to conjure up a geyser or something to catch him on, but he did nothing. Instead, he turned his attention to the rest of the enemies, causing a storm to come down upon them. Huge bolts of lightning slammed down into the earth, hitting both enemies and elves at random. The trees grew tall and strong, their branches coiling tightly around anything that came within reach, suffocating it. More fireballs were shot down haphazardly from the palace balcony, and soon the entire realm was up in flames. The Forest River rose up and completely flooded the palace grounds, reaching out to the back areas of the realm and sweeping away entire houses like they were sheets of paper.

I could only watch as Thranduil stood above it all, cackling demonically as he destroyed his own lands. "NONE SHALL DEFY ME! I AM THRANDUIL, RULER OF MIDDLE-EARTH!" Screams of the dying came from everywhere. It was a full-on apocalypse, but he didn't stop. The guy had gone insane.

"What in the world is going on?" I screamed. Suddenly, a blast of fire hit the base of the building I was standing on. I stumbled as the building buckled, trying to hold my balance, but could do nothing as I was flung from the roof and into the blackness of the chasm below as the building completely collapsed.

oOo

"Open your eyes, child."

I did so, and was shocked at where I found myself. I was...nowhere. Just floating in the middle of a black expanse of nothingness, with one tall, slender, white robed figure with shining gold hair hovering before me. My eyes widened in fear. "Galadriel..." I breathed.

She stared down at me. "What you have just seen is the fall of Mirkwood. I know what you have done, Erin. I also know what lead you to take the Elemental Bands from Elrond and I. I have seen it in the Mirror." I hung my head in shame. I should've known she'd find out about it through that. "That is the potential danger you have put all of Mirkwood in, as well as all of Middle-Earth. As the proper bearer of Atontarya, you must take responsibility for this. You must ride to Lothlórien tomorrow morning. Come alone. We have much to discuss."

oOo

I opened my eyes for the third time and sat upright in my bed, gasping for breath and shaking. I calmed down as I looked around, seeing the palace still intact, and hearing Galadriel's message still ringing in my head. I ran a hand through my hair and flopped back down, shuddering. "Dear God, what have I done?"

**A/N: Yay for a longer chapter! :D **


	17. Hellos and Goodbyes

**A/N: Dude, you know what I just realized? This first book is almost over! :O I'd estimate there to be about...two or three more chapters after this, and then we're into the plot of the movies! Holy cow...that went by a lot faster than I expected it to. O_o**

A Strange Twist of Fate: Chapter Seventeen

I strode through the halls of the Mirkwood palace the next morning, intending to leave within the hour. I was dressed in a simple light gray, casual dress that only fell to my knees and had long, loose-fitting sleeves. I wore white pants underneath of that, black boots, a black belt holding two knives and a sword around my waist, and I had my old dark brown quiver with typical Lothlórien arrows and a longbow of the Galadhrim strapped to my back. I made my way directly to the throne room, having just finished taking a bath and cleaning myself up for my journey. My hair had been woven into a thick braid that reached to the middle of my back. _I'll have to get it cut soon, _I realized as I ran a hand over it.

In any event, I flung open the door to the throne room and walked right in, not wanting to waste time. "Thranduil, I'm leaving for Lórien. I'll be back in a month or so."

The king looked at me, a slight glare on his face. It was then that I noticed that there were two guests in the throne room, standing before the king. Well, one was standing. The other was sort of...hunched over on the ground. The standing one was a man, taller than me, with dark brown, nearly black wavy hair that was messy and hung to just above his shoulders. He had the beginnings of a scruffy beard on his chin, was dressed in ragged, weather-worn clothes that consisted of a lot of leather, and his eyes were a stormy greyish-blue.

In his hand he held a thick, silvery rope that acted as a leash around the other's neck. His hands were bound with the same rope, and the knots seemed to be tied tightly to stop him from escaping. This..._thing _was little more than a bag of bones and skin. On every part of his body, bones were visible, and he wore nothing but a scrap of cloth that acted as a loincloth. His skin was a sickly grey color, and it seemed a miracle that he was even alive and breathing. A few strands of wispy hair clung to his head, and his eyes were a pale, pale blue the bulged out, looking very disproportional to the rest of his body.

Instantly, I recognized these two characters as Aragorn and Gollum. They were both looking at me as well, and I realized from the look on Aragorn's face that I had just rudely interrupted him while he was talking. "Sorry," I said, offering up an awkward smile. "Carry on." I stepped back a couple of steps so that I wasn't standing in the middle of everything.

Aragorn looked at me curiously for a second before continuing. "As I was saying, the wizard Mithrandir asked that I aid him in capturing Gollum. He is an asset to Mordor, and for that, he must be kept away from them at all costs." At this, Gollum gurgled some nasty insult to the man, but Aragorn ignored him.

"And I am more than willing to take up such a task," Thranduil said. He motioned to a couple of his guards, and they came forward. Aragorn handed the leash over to one of them, and they both stood on either side of the corrupted little man to guard him. "He will cause us no trouble, I am sure."

"He may look it, my lord, but he is a wily, intelligent creature. I warn you to not underestimate him."

Thranduil nodded, then looked at his guards again, and they each placed a firm hand on Gollum as they dragged him away. Gollum screeched and yelled and put up a fight, but he was no match for the strong elves that held him. "Noooo! Noooooo! Not to the elveses caves! They will hurt uss, precioussss! They will hurt usss! The rope, it burnses usssss! Take it off usss...we begs you!" Eventually his cries faded away, leaving Aragorn, Thranduil and I in the throne room alone.

"Estel, I thank you. He will be closely guarded, of that you can be certain," the king said. Finally, he turned to me. "Now what is it that you were telling me earlier, Erin?"

"I'm leaving, Thranduil," I said bluntly. Though I kept my gaze on the king, I saw Aragorn raise his eyebrows at my lack of respect for the king.

Thranduil furrowed his brow at this. "Leaving? To go where?"

"To Lórien," I replied. "I miss my home, man. I have to go visit. Don't worry, though. I'll be back soon, so...don't let anyone destroy my room or anything, okay?"

For a second, I though he was actually going to scold me for being so straightforward. Not that I could blame him. But Thranduil just sighed and shook his head, smiling. "I have no problem with it. Just stay out of trouble, all right?"

"Got it," I said casually as I started walking back towards my room to get the last of my things. "Thanks."

I had just stepped out of my room with my bag of supplies slung over my shoulder when I saw a very ticked Legolas waiting for me in the hallway. "I heard news that you were leaving today."

"Really? Dang, news travels fast here," I said as I started walking.

I didn't even get two steps away before I felt his hand on my shoulder. Legolas spun me around, looking disappointed. "So soon? I thought you had intended to stay longer."

I rolled my eyes and smiled at him. "I'm not disappearing forever. I'll be back, Legolas. I'm just homesick."

Legolas still didn't look convinced. "And you are going alone? With no one to protect you?"

"I have plenty of protection," I said, gesturing to my various weapons. "And if they fail me...I've got fists."

Finally, the elf smiled and hugged me tight. "You had better come back _alive _and_ unharmed. _Do you hear me, Erin?"

I grinned and returned the embrace. "I'll come back alive for sure. No promises on the unharmed part," I said with a wink as I pulled away. Giving him one last goodbye wave, I turned away from Legolas and continued on down the hallway and out to the stables to get Rick Jr. When I stepped inside, though, I met someone I did not expect to see there.

Aragorn looked up from where he'd been petting one of the horses. _"Mae govennen," _he said politely with a nod. I nodded back and was about to respond when he looked back up at me with curiosity. "Forgive me for asking, my lady, but what are you doing here? I did not think Thranduil had any mortal women affiliates that he was so...ah, familiar with."

I smiled. "I get it. You're appalled by my lack of manners with the king."

He shrugged. "Confused is a better way to put it."

I chuckled and stuck out a hand, which he shook. "Sorry about that. I'm Erin, from Minas Tirith. I'm a guest of his since I did him a couple favors and am pretty close friends with his son."

"You know Legolas?" the ranger asked.

"Like a brother," I said. "Though I don't believe I've ever officially met you."

"My name is Estel. I am also very close friends with Legolas."

I hadn't been expecting him to announce that he was Aragorn to me, so I played along. "Cool. Congratulations on capturing Gollum, by the way. He's such a pain...or, he comes off that way," I said, catching my mistake.

Aragorn smiled. "It was quite a difficult catch. I trailed him for quite awhile."

"I've been running around up north here for awhile, so I haven't been in Minas Tirith in quite some time, but last I heard he was caught by servants of Sauron and taken to Barad-Dur. Is this true?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yes. They let him go, but for what reason I do not know. I took that as a chance to capture him so that they could use him no longer."

"Smart move," I said. I heard Rick Jr. whinny from a couple stalls over, and sighed. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Estel. Sorry, but I've gotta get going. Lórien needs me!" At his confused look, I mounted my steed and explained. "I've been living there for awhile. I kinda consider it my second home now."

Aragorn nodded in understanding. "Well I wish you luck on your journey, Lady Erin."

"Thanks. Bye!" Aragorn opened the gate for me, and I kicked Rick Jr. into a fast-paced canter, all too eager to get out of the place that only reminded me of my nightmare.

oOo

Thankfully, the journey to Lórien went quickly and without much delay. I had a map with me, so I only got slightly sidetracked once on my travels, and even that wasn't too much trouble for me. I left Thranduil's palace on the twenty-third of September, and passed the borders of The Golden Wood about a month later in the early hours of the morning.

Almost as soon as my horse set his first hoof into the elven realm, I remembered my last awkward encounter with Haldir. I knew it was dumb for me to be avoiding him so much, but...truth was, I had no idea how to handle the situation, and I didn't really have anyone to talk to about it. "What I wouldn't give to have one of my old girl friends here with me," I mumbled as Rick Jr. trotted along. It was dark out still, and a bit chilly, so I shivered and rubbed my arms as I let go of the reins, steadying myself by placing a hand on his neck. He knew the way from here. I would be fine.

In the time it took for us to reach the city of Caras Galadhon, I let both my eyes and mind wander. I expected a scolding from Galadriel, but beyond that I wasn't sure what she had in mind. I guess she expected me to fix it somehow. Hopefully she'd be at least a tiny bit merciful on me, though I knew in my heart that I didn't deserve it in the slightest.

From there, my mind jumped to the subject of upcoming events. The year 3017 was quickly coming to an end, and 3018 would bring with it the Council of Elrond, and the beginning of the War of the Ring. I still had about a year before I would start getting involved in that stuff. If I chose to, anyway. Did I still want to be a part of the Fellowship? Maybe I could just hang out here in Lórien until the events of _The Two Towers _rolled around, and them march off the Helm's Deep along with everyone else. Wait, that means more awkward Haldir time. But things would be worked out by then...right?

Despite my attempts to keep him off of my mind, that blasted blonde elf kept popping up in my head. I knew that with all the visiting I'd been doing to Galadriel, I was bound to run into him sooner or later. I just had no idea what to say. I didn't want to just flat out tell him I didn't like him that way. That would be rude. But I couldn't just go along with it and pretend to like him. I could never do that. Gosh, why was this so confusing? Middle-Earth was supposed to be fun, not confusing. I just wanted us to be friends, like we'd always been.

That's when it hit me. After what had been said before...there was no going back. Since he'd confessed his feelings for me, it was ridiculous trying to make things normal again, because they would be forever changed. There was no way we were ever going to be just friends again. I groaned. "Is there a reason why things have to be so firetrucking complicated? Because I would seriously love an answer to that."

oOo

I stepped up to the entrance of Galadriel and Celeborn's palace, swallowing nervously. _I'm such an idiot for ever agreeing to help Thranduil with anything. Never. Again. _Taking a breath, I raised a hand and pushed the door open gently. "Here we go..."

When I entered, it was silent. Galadriel and Celeborn sat on their thrones, proud and tall, as I had expected. Celeborn looked at me with a polite smile on his face, and it took me a second to remember that he was absolutely clueless about the Elven Element Bands. Galadriel, however, looked at me with shame and disappointment in her eyes. Boy, was it hard to meet her gaze. "Uhh..hi," I said with a smile. "Galadriel, you wanted to see me?"

"Yes," she said. "If would would follow me." Without another word, she rose and glided off in the direction of her study. I bowed quickly to Celeborn and followed after his wife. The silence as we made our way to the private room was terrifying for me. When we finally reach the small room and I seated myself, I straightened my back, prepared for the worst.

Galadriel closed the door, then slowly walked over to the tapestry hanging on the wall that illustrated the scene of the Three Rings of Power being forged. She lifted it up, exposing a small hole in the wall that was empty. "Would you care to explain why this in bare, Erin?"

I exhaled. "My deepest apologies, my lady. I know what I did was wrong, and an act of treason against both you and all of Lothlórien. I had sworn an oath on the Ring of Unity that I would bring both Sûlya and Aearya back to Thranduil...under pain of death if I failed to complete my mission. That's no excuse for what I did, though. I'm so sorry," I whispered, hanging my head.

"And do you realize just how much jeopardy you have put all Arda in by doing this?"

"Yes," I said meekly. "I saw it in my nightmare about the fall of Mirkwood. Though...I still don't get this one part." I raised my head to look at her. "Why did Thranduil go insane? He killed his own son, along with all the rest of his people!"

At this, her gaze changed from a scolding one to a saddened one. "There is a reason that each ring was given to a different bearer, Erin. No being would be able to wield that kind of power without succumbing to it. It is similar to the way the One Ring corrupts those who use it, though not in such an evil way. The Elemental Bands hold a power to great and terrible to imagine. It is not a kind of power made for only one person to possess." She paused here, and looked me right in the eyes. "They will drive him to madness, Erin. To the point where his only goal is to fulfill his heart's desire...at _any _cost. Since his goal is to destroy the darkness contaminating his home...he will do that, without thinking twice about anything or anyone else, even if it means sacrificing his only son and heir."

I stared at her for a moment, speechless. "Does he know this?"

"He may..." Galadriel answered, looking away. "...He may not. Thranduil is a noble elf with good intentions, but the worst thing about him is his pride. If he knows about this, he likely believes that he is an exception to the effects of this type of power."

"Well, he's an idiot then!" I scoffed. "His entire home is at risk!"

"And that is precisely why I have called you here." The elf queen turned back to me. "I know that you understand and regret your wrongdoings, Erin. If you had a chance to redeem yourself...would you take it?"

I knew where she was going with this already. "I would, but not for myself. If I've put Mirkwood in jeopardy, then I would do it to save that realm before regaining my own reputation."

To my surprise, she smiled. "I had hoped you would say that."

**A/N: Writing for Aragorn is a lot harder than I thought it would be! Hopefully the dialogue I wrote sounds like stuff he would say. I'm not quite used to his character yet. I'm too used to writing dialogue for elves. XD **


	18. The Ingenious Plan of Awesome

A Strange Twist of Fate: Chapter Eighteen

I walked out of Galadriel's palace later that evening, the details of our simple but risky plan already running through my head. I would have to move as quickly as I could, and be absolutely sure not to get caught above anything else. If I was found in the middle of the action...I didn't even want to think about it. I was so caught up in my thoughts as I made it to the bottom of the stairs and started walking back to my talen that I jumped when I heard my name being yelled.

"Erin!"

I looked up, startled. My heart sank a bit when I saw Haldir running towards me, smiling. Wincing on the inside, I shot him a small smile. "Hey."

He started walking alongside of me. "You are back."

I nodded, still not quite that into the conversation. "Yeah..."

"And you did not think to say hello?" he teased, lightly elbowing me.

"Oh," I said. "Sorry."

There was a moment of silence. "Erin...is something wrong?" I looked up at him, seeing the genuine concern on his face. _Yeah, something's wrong all right. _

I sighed. "Sorry. I just...I've got a lot on my mind."

More silence. "Well...you do know that if you ever need anything, I-"

"Yeah yeah, I know," I said. "Haldir, I'm sorry, but I gotta go. I'll...see ya later sometime, okay?"

He didn't say anything, just nodded. I could tell he was trying to not look as confused and hurt as he felt. I started jogging away from him, my mind focused on heading to my talen and getting sleep while I still could.

oOo

I shook my head as the brief flashback ended. I never should've left Haldir in that way. He probably thought he'd done something wrong, when in truth I had just been afraid to talk to him. I flicked the reins of my black stallion, urging him to go faster. I wasn't too far away from the Wood-Elves' realm now. All my attention had to be focused on my mission from Galadriel, not on my awkward relationship with a former friend.

As I came within sight of the gates of Thranduil's small kingdom, I took a deep breath. "Just don't blow your cover, Erin. Act normal. Nothing's wrong, it was just a trip to visit your homeland." Putting a smile on my face, I greeted the guards warmly. _"Suilaid, mellon n__î__ns." _(Greetings, my friends.)

After all of my comings and goings from their realm, they recognized me and returned my smile. _"Sim gelir ceni ad l__í__n, Hiril L__ónnanûniel." _(We are happy to see you again, Lady Erin.) They kindly opened the gates for me, and I passed through. I headed straight for the palace, once again saying hi to the guards as they let me through. Within ten minutes, I had Rick Jr. back in the stables and was in the halls of Thranduil's mighty caves again.

I went to the throne room first, planning to stop in and say hi before going to find Legolas. Apparently that wasn't necessary, though, because before I could even get the sentence "Hey Thranduil, I'm back!" out of my mouth, Legolas ran up to me from where he had previously been standing at his father's side, grinning. "Erin!"

I smiled back and hugged my best friend. "Hey, Legolas! What's up?"

By this point, he'd grown quite used to my modern day Earth talk. "Nothing too insane. As always, it had been fairly quiet without you around."

"But not in a good way, right?" I prompted.

He stopped to think about that for a second. "Well..."

My grin widened, and I punched him in the shoulder. "Oh, shut up. You know you love me!" I called as I walked past him and approached his father. "Hey, Thranduil!" I said, smiling at the elvenking. Though this one was certainly a bit more forced, I still managed to keep up my chipper mood. "How have things been?"

He smiled at me. "Welcome back, my dear. Things have been absolutely wonderful. All of the preparations have been made to challenge Dol Guldur!"

At that sentence, my heart stopped for a moment. I blinked and stared at him for a moment, then finally answered. "Really?"

"Yes, really!" Thranduil seemed genuinely excited about it. Great. Just excellent. "In fact, I was hoping that you would return soon so that we could have a feast in celebration of this soon to be enormous accomplishment."

"Really?" I said again, though this time more as a groan. A feast? I didn't really have time for a feast.

He nodded. "You returned just in time, Erin. We were prepared to launch the assault in three days, so I had hoped to hold the feast tomorrow evening. It would be a small gathering...likely just you, Legolas, some of the captains of our various divisions in the armies, and myself."

Suddenly, something clicked in my mind. "Really?" I asked a third time, more intrigued than anything else.

"Of course! We simply could not have the feast without you, after all you have done for us. So...will you join us?" Thranduil looked down at me expectantly.

I pretended to think about it for a moment, when in all reality my brain was figuring out how my plan would take place tomorrow. I beamed up at him. "Oh, come on. Do you really think I'd say no?"

He laughed. "That's the spirit! Your room as gone untouched, as per your request. You may go freshen up there if you'd like."

"I think I will. Thanks," I said before nodding to the king, then to Legolas, and then exiting the room. As I walked through the winding hallways, I tried to remember where Thranduil's room was. If the feast was taking place tomorrow, that would be my best (and only) chance to put my plan to use. And the way things currently seemed, everything was going to fall perfectly into place. I smiled to myself, happily humming "Hero," "Monster," and "Whispers in the Dark" by Skillet as I reached my room and bathed. They had always been my favorite band back home.

Some time later, I emerged from my bathroom with a towel wrapped around both my body and my wet head. "No! You'll never be alone!..." I sang as I pulled a bright green dress with gold trim at the neckline and waist out of my wardrobe. "...When darkness comes, I'll light the night with stars!.." I trailed off and hummed the rest of the chorus as I dressed behind a changing screen, then sat down at a vanity that was also in my room to brush my hair. "...My love is, a burning, consuming fire!..." I twisted two parts of it into thick braids that started at my ears and went around to the back of my head, where they came together in one single lock of hair. Tying it with a leather cord, my eyes then fell on a small stack of paper and a quill and ink well. Out of nowhere, a brilliant idea came into my mind. I snatched up one of the papers, got some ink onto the tip of the quill, and quickly scribbled something down on it.

When I was finished, I read over it and smiled, patting myself on the back for my work. I waited until the paper was dry, then carefully slid it underneath the other papers so that it was on the bottom of the stack, and replaced the quill. I laughed as I stood and walked towards the door of my room, ready to entertain myself until the next day. "Oh gosh...this is gonna be fun."

oOo

Twenty-four hours later, I stepped out of my room to go to Thranduil's feast. I had slept with my hair braided overnight, so my hair now fell in soft waves down to the bottom of my shoulder blades. I had picked a couple of pale pink flowers from the palace's gardens that were now in my hair over my left ear. The dress I wore was also light pink, tight-fitting until the hips, where it slowly flowed out and away from my body. It had no sleeves, and the neckline was a simple gold strip of fabric that looped around my neck. A golden, shimmering pin with the emblem of Mirkwood was set where the gold ribbon met the dress in the center of my chest, and I had two small gold bracelets on both wrists. I'll admit, I felt beautiful. Like a true elf princess.

In any event, I made my way down to the dining room, taking a detour on the way to make sure I knew where Thranduil's room was. When I entered the large dining hall, Thranduil and the others looked up and smiled at me. Apparently I was the last one to show up. "Ah, there she is!" He motioned for me to come over, and I obeyed, walking over to stand next to the king as he rose to get everyone's attention. He made some brief statement about how none of this would be possible without me to them, they all clapped, I sat down, and the feast began.

It was actually quite a nice feast, and there were many different elvish dishes that I got to try that were new to me (though I still requested water instead of wine). I almost felt bad later on when I started to put my plan into action, but...a girl's gotta do what she's gotta do.

After about what I guessed to be a little over half an hour of the mini-party, I started the first phase of my plan: acting. I paused in the middle of a conversation with an elf named Bercuthion, who was the captain of Mirkwood's swordsmen in the army, and placed a hand over my stomach, briefly faking a look of pain. Though I liked Bercuthion, he could sometimes be an idiot. I had to do it about four times before he finally noticed it. _"Man mathach?" _(How do you feel?) he asked, frowning a bit.

I tried to put on my best "I'm-sick-but-I-don't-want-to-make-a-fuss-about-it" smile and waved a hand. _"Im maer." _(I'm well.)

He didn't look convinced. Good. _"Lónnanûniel..." _(Erin...) he said, a bit sternly.

I looked at him awhile longer, winced again, then sighed. _"Ae anírach, Bercuthion." _(If you wish, Bercuthion.) I turned to Thranduil and changed my expression to a "I-feel-like-I'm-gonna-hurl" face, again, touching my stomach gently. "Thranduil!" I hissed.

The elvenking turned to me. "Yes, Erin?"

"I, uhhh...don't feel very good." Fate must've liked me that day, because out of nowhere my stomach gurgled a bit, even though I didn't feel the slightest bit sick. "Can I...go?"

Thranduil looked at me sympathetically. "So early? I am sorry, Erin. If you must. I wish you a quick recovery."

I nodded and rose from my seat. "Thanks."

Before I could leave, I heard Bercuthion call my name. I turned to face the dark-haired elf. _"No ce ammaer ab lû thent, mellon." _(May you be better soon, friend.)

_"Hannon le," _(Thank you,) I graciously replied before turning and exiting the feast, moving quickly, but not too quickly. I hurriedly made my way back to my room, and as soon as I shut the door, I yanked off my dress, revealing my old Lothlórien-colored traveling clothes underneath, save for the shirt. I quickly pulled that over my head, strapped on my belt of blades, quiver, and bow, then ran over to my vanity and grabbed the piece of paper that I'd written on the day before before heading out the door, grabbing my bag of food and other supplies along the way. "Let's do this," I said to myself as I made my way quickly and quietly through the hallways until I found what I knew was the door to Thranduil's room. It wasn't too far away from Legolas' and mine, just the next hallway over. It was connected to the balcony that stuck out from the front of the palace and overlooked the town he lived in.

I stepped inside, taking care that I wasn't noticed or heard by anyone who might've happened to be nearby, shut the door, and began my search. If I knew Thranduil, I knew that the small chest where he kept all of the Elemental Bands would be somewhere in here. I went through a good part of his dresser and nightstand before I made the decision to check his closet. It was there, on the top shelf, buried way in the back corner under a pile of old books, that I found it. The same tiny wooden case that I had seen on my first day in Mirkwood.

I carefully opened it, smiling in satisfaction when I saw all five rings inside. Aearya, Kemenya, Lhachya, Sûlya, and my own ring, Atontarya. Just as they shouldn't be. I quickly dumped them all out onto my waiting palm, placed the Ring of Earth back into the box, then replaced it exactly where I'd found it. I reached into my bag and pulled out a small leather drawstring pouch, tossing three of them inside before sliding the Ring of Unity back into its proper place. I looked at it, gleaming even in the low light on my finger. "It feels good to have you back again," I said. I tossed the pouch back into my big bag and left the room, but not before I placed the piece of paper on his nightstand.

After that, I'm pretty sure you can guess what my plan was. Now that I had the Elemental Bands back, all I had to do was get out of there unnoticed, and I'd be good. It was a lot easier than I thought. Everyone who I had to be concerned about running into was still at the feast, and anyone else I saw just assumed I was going off to so some big favor for the king again. No one questioned me, for which I was insanely thankful. I made it all the way out to the stables without raising any suspicion. As I walked up to where Rick Jr. was waiting, I smiled. This was going to work out perfectly! Awesome!

Rick Jr. whinnied and shuffled his feet, and I giggled as I rubbed his nose. "Hey, boy. Ready to ride fast?" I shouldered my bag and reached for the first buckle, when suddenly I heard a noise. It sounded like...footsteps. Oh, well. No one important was going to be out here at this point, anyway.

Whoever it was brushed past me. _"Goheno nín," _(Forgive me,) they said.

I glanced up at the figure. Funny. That voice sounded familiar. I just barely registered the blonde hair and hid my right hand from view before the person turned around. "Oh! Legolas, you're...here."

Legolas looked just as shocked. "Erin? What are you doing here? I thought you were unwell."

"Uhhh..." I stumbled with my words. "...I-it passed?" I tried a smile that didn't fit.

Realization dawned on him. "You faked it to leave the party. Why?" It was then that he registered the fact that I was preparing my horse. "You...you are leaving?"

I sighed. No point in trying to hide that. "Yeah. Yeah, I am."

He looked heartbroken. "But...why? You have not been here more than a day!"

"I know," I said sadly. "But I...I have to go." I turned back to Rick Jr., carefully unhooking him as I kept the Ring of Unity hidden.

"Go where?"

"Go...somewhere." I couldn't tell him that much. The whole plan would be ruined.

"Erin, you must tell me!"

"I can't!"

"Why not?"

At this point, I spun around to face him. "Legolas, I...you've just gotta trust me, okay? I have to leave."

He looked hurt. I could understand why. "Is it something I said? Is it my father? Did he-"

"No, Legolas. It's not anybody's fault," I said, mounting my sleek black steed. "I just...I can't be here anymore. You'll find out why soon. Now, if you would be so kind..." I gestured for him to move out of the way.

His eye reflected an immense sadness. "Do I not get a goodbye, at the very least?"

I sighed and looked at him, smiling a sad smile. _"Namarië, Legolas." _(Farewell, Legolas.) After a moment, I added "...I'll miss you. Don't get into too much trouble."

He smiled for a fleeting moment, but it soon disappeared. Stepping closer, he asked quietly _"...Man lû vin achenitham?" _(When will we see each other again?)

I looked at him for a moment before responding. "I don't know. I'm sorry."

Knowing that I had to go, Legolas reluctantly stepped aside, and without another word I kicked Rick Jr. into action, a morose look on my face as I sped out of the stables, out of the palace, and then out of the gates completely, ready to leave Mirkwood behind.

oOo

Legolas' POV

(Later that night)

I exhaled as I sat on my room's balcony, gazing up at the stars that could be seen through the trees. Erin's sudden departure was weighing heavily on my mind. Why did she leave? Where was she going? Why was she leaving so suddenly? And most importantly, why did she refuse to tell me anything? Her words echoed in my mind. _"You'll find out why soon." _What did that mean? And how soon? There were too many unanswered questions for my liking.

The party had most likely ended by now. I had just gone out to the stables for some air, originally intending to go back to the feast, but after her leaving I knew it was pointless. I needed time to think. It hurt me that she had not at least told me about her plans to leave earlier. I was so utterly lost in this, and I did not like it one bit. And then there was the part about her not knowing when she would see me again. That was probably the worst part. Honestly, why would she think that-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGHHHHH!"

I jumped and spun around in the direction that the loud, angry shout had come from. It sounded like Ada, but...

I sighed and headed for his room. What now?

When I opened the door, he stood in front of his closet, with a small chest in one hand, and a piece of parchment in the other. As soon as I entered, he flung the box across the room. It hit the wall with a loud crack, leaving a small dent where it had hit. Something else flew out of it, and Ada went over, seething, to pick it up.

I frowned as I watched him in the midst of his rage. "Ada? What-"

He cut me off by angrily wadding up the parchment and tossing it in my direction. Still watching him warily, I bent down and picked it up off of the floor, unwadding it so that I could read it properly. "It's a letter," I mused to myself. On the parchment in black ink, it was written:

_Thranduil,_

_ You're stupid for ever thinking that I would let you get away with something like this. I'm not that stupid. I know that I wasn't gonna get them back any other way. And I don't want to hear your whining and fussing, because I saved your kingdom. Maybe you don't understand this yet, but that much power would destroy your entire kingdom, whether you like it or not. You used both me and Legolas as pawns in your plans, so I took action. Did you seriously expect me to sit back and watch everything fall apart?You owe me a lot more now than just a room in your palace and good food._

_ Still don't understand what I'm getting at? Check the chest, idiot._

_ Sincerely, _

_ Erin_

_ P.S. I have no respect whatsoever for you anymore._


	19. Plot Twist!

**A/N: Hey guys! :D Guess what? IT'S THE LAST CHAPTER OF BOOK ONE! :O I know, I'm shocked, too. I didn't think it would go by so fast! Just to let you know, I'm working on the second book as you read this, but that one won't be uploaded until July. June 27th-30th I'm away at a Christian music festival called Creation...I went last year, and I loved it! :D I'm taking my best friend with me this year, and I'm super excited! It's like...non-stop concerts...ALL. DAY. SO FRIKING EXCITED OVER HERE. *squee* **

**Anyway! Yeah, so I won't be able to upload those days. And the day before Creation, my friend is coming over to spend the night...and my cousins are coming over for the day...Monday I'm busy with family...Sunday I have church...yeah. I'm busy. XD So I figured it'd be easier for me just to upload everything I get written for the next book once I get back. I might upload the first chapter of it before I leave, just to give you guys something to chew on while I'm gone. :3 We'll see. **

**On that very long note, here's the last chapter! Enjoy! :D **

A Strange Twist of Fate: Chapter Nineteen

Legolas' POV

I stood silently as my father paced quickly back and forth in front of his throne. It was the day after Erin had left, and the Elven Element Bands we had worked so hard to get had gone missing with her. I was just as angry as my father, especially since I knew that I could have stopped her from leaving last night.

Some of his closest delegates and advisors watched, waiting for orders from him. "This is an _outrage!_" Ada seethed. I could not have agreed more. "This is despicable! This is...is..._treason!_ She must be found. Such a crime can _not _go unpunished."

I nodded. "Erin will be found. She does not have more than half a day's head start. We can prepare a troop and leave today to track her down."

"Do it!" Ada commanded. "Find her, and bring her back here. Along with the stolen objects," he added with a pointed glance at me.

"But...my lord..." one of the elves before us unsurely stepped forward. "We have no knowledge of where she may have gone! Prince Legolas said she told him nothing."

"That does not matter, Arthanon." My father shot a glare at him. "She must be found. I do not care how you do it, but it must get done. Look everywhere. Anywhere. Go to all the four corners of Arda, for Valar's sake! She cannot escape us." After saying this, Ada stopped pacing, straightened, and turned to me. "Legolas. You will lead the patrol group. I want no more than ten good, strong men going with you. You must ride light and swift."

"I would be honored to take up such a position," I said.

"Excellent. Gather your men. I want you out of here no later than tomorrow morning." Ada walked back up to his throne and sat down in it, though he still tapped his foot impatiently. "You are dismissed!" He waved his hand, and everyone left the room, save for me.

I stood next to him. "Ada..."

He growled in frustration. "I was this close, Legolas. This close!" He pinched his fingers together in an example. "We could have driven Dol Guldur away by now! And that blasted woman came in and ruined everything!" He stopped shouting for a moment and placed his head in his hands.

It pained me to see my father in such a state. I placed a hand on his shoulder, my anger towards Erin rising. "She betrayed us, Ada. Both of us. I will see to it that she pays for her actions." With one last comforting pat on the back, I rose and went off to prepare for the long journey ahead.

oOo

Erin's POV

I rode hard all through the night that I fled the Mirkwood palace, and most of the following day. Only when both my horse and I were thoroughly exhausted did I stop for rest. Even then, I knew I wasn't safe. I had to make do with what I had and find the best shelter I could, praying that I would wake up alive and undiscovered the following morning. When I did, I would eat, drink, take care of Rick Jr., and then we were off again.

That was my process for quite some time. I knew that Thranduil would waste no time in sending out search parties to find me and his precious rings. Legolas would likely be one of them, I guessed. The fear of being found was what kept me going for so long. On the first part of my journey, I discovered an endurance I had never known that I'd had, which was nice. It came in pretty handy when fleeing from the authorities.

I reached Lothlórien a lot faster than I expected to, arriving in my favorite woods in about three weeks, versus the average four it would take on a normal expedition. I had Rick Jr. taken to the stables, while I shoveled myself up to Galadriel and Celeborn's palace to return the Ring of Air. It didn't take me very long. I walked in, said hi, and pulled the ring out of my little bag to give to the elven queen (Celeborn wasn't there at the time, for whatever reason).

Galadriel smiled as I held it out to her, and she took it gladly. "Erin...you have done well. I am proud of you.  
"You shouldn't be," I said. "I still massively regret stealing it from you in the first place."

"But you returned it before any damage was done," she said. "Just remember, child. Rings of power are never to be toyed with."

I managed a small smile. "Don't I know it."

She smiled back, then changed the subject. "How long were you planning on staying here?"

"I'm leaving tonight, if I can," I said. "It's only just after lunchtime now. I'll go get cleaned up, replenish my supplies, eat a good meal, and then be out of here by midnight. I've probably got a group of elves searching for me as we speak."

"I do not doubt it," she said solemnly. "Do you have a place of refuge?"

I shrugged. "I've got an idea. I wish I could stay here, but it's too obvious. Legolas knows me. This is one of the first places they'll look."

She smiled at me sadly. "Then I wish you the best of luck, Erin. You know that you will always have a home here with us."

I nodded as I backed out of the throne room. "My deepest thanks. You have no idea how much that means to me."

After that, I left the palace to get back to my old talen. I grabbed a fresh silver dress out of my trunk, found a bathing tent, and ordered for my traveling clothes to be washed and ready for use within a few hours. In the short amount of free time that I had after preparing for the journey ahead, I walked around The Golden Wood, happier now that I knew it was safe and as it should be again. It felt like the Lórien I used to know.

I had just made it back to my talen when someone put a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and almost jumped out of my skin at the sight of Haldir standing there, looking slightly ticked. "Oh my gosh! Dude, you gotta stop doing that. You're gonna scare me to death one of these days."

He cut right to the chase. "Why were you acting the way you were when we last met?"

Crap. "...You remember that?" I asked sheepishly.

"Do not play games with me anymore, Erin. I am tired of you avoiding me every time your come here." He seriously looked mad at me, and I felt bad.

I sighed and took his arm. "Come on. I'll explain as we walk."

He glanced down at my hand on his arm for a moment, then softened and followed after me.

After about half a minute, I started talking. "Haldir, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings last time I talked to you."

I must've hurt his pride, because he immediately straightened and denied it. "You did not wound me, Erin. I was merely curious."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, please. I know I offended you. Anyway...like I said, I never intended to hurt you. I just...I had a lot on my mind."

"Really? Like what?"

"I don't know...stuff."

He looked at me with a 'Seriously? Wtf.' look on his face. "Erin."

"Okay, okay!" I said, raising my hands in defeat. "If you must know, it was mostly about...you."

He was quiet for a second at that. "...Me?"  
"Yes," I said softly. "You. I've been...thinking about what you said before. When you said you liked me." I hesitated for awhile, stretching the awkward silence. "...Do you still feel that way?"

"Yes," he responded, not even waiting a second. "not any less than before."

Mentally, I sighed. Physically, I just nodded. "I figured that. Look...I don't know how else to tell you this, so forgive me for being blunt. I...I just don't think I want to be in a relationship with anybody right now. And also...I'm not entirely sure that I'm prepared enough for one. You've got to understand, Haldir. I don't want to just jump into something like this without thinking about it. I don't want this to be something we do just for the heck of it. I want it to be...genuine. I want it to be real." I stopped walking, smiling inwardly at his recognition of the place where he first asked me out. "Do you follow me so far?"

"Yes, Erin. I understand your concerns."

"Good." I took a shaky breath, and then gently took his hands in mine. "That's why I want to promise you something." I looked up into his deep brown eyes, noticing that the tips of his ears were just barely tinging pink. "After tonight, I'm going to be...gone...for a very long time." Though I could see his brown furrow slightly at this, he let me continue. "I don't know when I'll be back, but I expect it to be at least a year from now. When I come back...if you can bring me to this exact spot and say you still truly care for me as you do now...I will rethink my decision and possibly allow us to court each other." I waited for a moment to let that sink in. "Can you do that for me?"

He smiled. "Of course I can."

I gave him a small smile of my own and released his rough warrior hands. "Thank you. I have to go now...okay?"

He spread out his arms, and I gladly took the opportunity to give him his goodbye hug. "Goodbye, Erin."

"Bye, Haldir," I whispered. "Remember the promise."

He released me from his hold and looked at me. "I will never forget it."

I smiled at him one last time, then turned and started off in the direction of the bath tents. Once I reached them, it was growing dark, so I quickly changed into my freshly washed traveling clothes, packed up my things, made my way back to the stables, and by the time I had mounted my horse again it was about two hours before midnight. Dark, but I would still travel, even in the cold air of late November. I had no other choice.

As I came to the borders of the forest later that night, I stopped Rick Jr. for a moment and looked back at my beloved home. "I'll be back. Someday...someday I will come back." With a click of my tongue, Rick Jr. sped back into action and we rode on, quickly leaving the magical forest behind us.

oOo

On Christmas Day, when my trusty horse stopped at the peak of a large hill in wooded terrain, a smile broke out on my face. "We finally made it," I breathed. "Rivendell."

The small realm was just as magical as I remember it, even in the beginning of winter. Though is was pretty cold out, that did nothing to take away from the beauty of the elven kingdom. As I made my way down into the hidden valley, I felt much more relaxed and safe than I had being on the run for the past few months. Rick Jr. and I trotted through the gates, welcomed by the guards when I announced that I needed to see Lord Elrond. As always, my horse was passed down to a stable boy to lead him to safety as I entered the Last Homely House.

Not a few minutes after I'd arrived, I was greeted by almost being tackled to the ground by Elrohir and Elladan. They really did remind me of taller versions of Merry and Pippin with dark hair and pointy ears. "Erin!" Elrohir cried.

I laughed as I returned the hug. "Hey guys!"

"You have returned to us!" Elladan rejoiced.

"And not a moment too soon," Elrohir said. "We were beginning to think you had deserted us for the Mirkwood elves!"

We all laughed. "In all honesty," I said with a sheepish grin, "I got into some trouble over there. I actually came here to speak with your dad, but I might not be here long. We'll see."

They looked slightly disappointed. "Oh, Erin! And here I thought I would finally have someone to talk to other than my annoying sister and this twit." Elladan said. "Ow!" he cried as Elrohir elbowed him in the stomach.

"Oh, be quiet. You would be absolutely nothing without me." This led to the two of them bickering in the way that all sibling do, and I just laughed as I left them to go find Elrond. I tried the office first, and was pleased to see him there, hunched over his desk as I pictured him to be.

I stood there awkwardly in the doorway for a moment, and was about to clear my throat to get his attention, when he spoke to me without even turning around. "You may come in, Lady Erin."

I bit my lip and did so, shutting the door behind me. Elrond turned around and got up from his desk, standing in front of me. "Hello, my lord."

"I know what you have done."

I blinked. Dang. Hadn't been expecting that one. "About the ring? How?"

"Galadriel and I have our ways of communicating," he explained. _Oh yeah. How did I forget about that? _"She has informed me of your predicament with Thranduil and his search parties, and while I cannot say that I support the decisions and choices you made in the past, I will say that your efforts to rectify your mistakes are very commendable."

I bowed briefly. "Thank you. I know that it's pretty much unforgivable, what I've done, but..." I pulled Aearya out of my bag and extended it to him. "The least I could do was get it back for you before anything went terribly wrong." Elrond took it, smiled a bit at me, then turned to go back to his chair. "Wait!" I called. He turned back around, and I also held Lhachya up to him. "I don't know Glorfindel all that well, so...this belongs to him. Will you see that he gets it back?"

"Of course, my dear." He took it also, and examined it in wonder. "So Thranduil really had it all this time..."

"Yeah," I nodded. "Pretty messed up, if you ask me."

Elrond chuckled, then looked at me seriously. "There is another matter I wish to discuss with you, Erin. I have also been informed of the fact that you are not of this world."

I tensed. How the heck did he find-...wait. "Galadriel?"

"Yes," he replied. "I had guessed earlier that something about you was different, so I asked her." He trailed off, and his eyes flicked to the door behind me. "Perhaps Arwen would be willing to show you. It will be easier than for me to explain it."

I turned around and smiled when I saw Arwen at the door, dressed in a rich red velvet gown. "Yes, Ada?"

"Arwen, would you be so kind as to introduce Erin to our newest guest?"

I glanced over my shoulder at him, confused. "Guest?" I asked Arwen.

Her eyes seemed to light up. "Oh, yes! Of course, Ada. Come, Erin! You must meet her..."

I cast Elrond one last 'Wtf' look before following Arwen out the door. She started leading me through the house, talking about this mysterious person.

"I think you and her would get along, Erin. She is a bit...brash...sometimes, but manageable."

I snickered. "You don't like her, do you?"

"No, no!" Arwen said quickly as she led me upstairs.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on. Really?"

She looked at me nervously. "...All right, fine. No, I do not get along with her that well...but in my defense, I believe it is her who started it." We both laughed.

"She sound kind of...like a jerk, the way you describe her. Rude, I mean." I said as we made our way down the guest wing hallway. "What's her name?"

"Most of us call her by her Elvish name, which is Eccaia. It is the closest translation we could get to her real name...quite an odd one, it is. I have never heard it before, but...oh, never mind." She stopped at one of the rooms in the hallway and knocked on the door. "Lady Eccaia? Are you decent?"

Surprisingly, I heard her swear from inside. "Arwen, is that you?"

"Yes," the elven princess said with a sigh. "Could you stop being difficult for one second and come out? I would like to introduce you to someone."

The woman inside groaned, but I heard her get up and walk to the door anyway. As she opened it, she said "Goddammit Arwen, if it's another one of your bitchy friends-" She stopped mid-sentence, and her jaw dropped as she spotted me.

I had a similar expression on my face as I stared at this girl. "Kaia?"*

***Note: It's pronounced "Kye-uh". :3**

**And with that, Book One of the Changing Destinies Series is OVER! :D Yay for sudden plot twists! Haha, the next book will pick up where this scene leaves off, and then get into the plot of _The Fellowship of the Ring._ Before I go, I'd like to give shout-outs to all of my awesomesauce reviewers! A big ginormous humongous THANK YOU to :**

**nin4**

**Glory Bee**

**kaototchi**

**shadow-fox313**

**Nadia Leigh**

**Berianireth of Lorien**

**EnvyIsMySin**

**Ninja Star Light**

**Kumiko Seph**

**Kaycee-x John Cenaholic**

**Cetacea-of-Time**

**Anime Hottah Lovah**

**You guys are all amazing! :D :D :D I love reading your reviews, they motivate me so much! ^^ Thanks again! 3 Next book will be started July 2nd at the latest! Stay awesome until then, you guys! **

**~Erin**


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